Heart-Warming Java Shots
by Forgreatcoffee
Summary: Various drabbles, short & bittersweet as a cup of espresso. Phaya's dangerous mission, Wrightworth play spin the bottle, Justley prevails, Miego gives new meaning to "lemon fresh, Ryusato proves all you knead is love, Lady Luck(less) falls 4 Flatfoot, Klema - Opposites attack. Trite's worst nightmare. Latest: JusticeCykes see things quite differently...
1. Eternal Flame

_Mr. Coffee: These are not my works. They are several single espresso cups of romance, requested as various AA lover prompts, compiled by other writers too shy to take credit for their works and posted with permission on their behalf. Pull up a cup of your favorite roast, and enjoy the occasional steamy cup of fan-favorite romance. First up - Maya and Trite - circa **Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright** crossover days._

* * *

 _ **Eternal Flame**_

"Maya this is the MOST insane thing I've let you talk me into yet!" Phoenix hissed as he laced his fingers together and hoisted Maya up so she could grip the stone walls surrounding the palatial medieval manor. "Not only is this place surrounded by armed knights – the VERY SAME ONES who helped toss you into that fire pit, but there will be hell to pay if we get caught gatecrashing the Storyteller's masquerade ball!"

Maya pulled herself up, then crouched down on the top of the ledge and extended her hand down to her clandestine paramour so he could pull himself up as she flashed a devilish grin. The rest of her face was obscured by the semi-covering helmet resting atop her raven locks even though her eyes twinkled impishly through the peepholes.

"The problem with YOU, old man is you have no sense of adventure!" She chided playfully. "Tonight is all about celebrating me the magic of me coming back to life! And what better way to rejoice this miracle than LITERALLY attending a party?"

"But who knows what kind of ramifications we'll face if we get caught?" Phoenix protested as Maya dragged him towards the secret underground entrance that only the Labyrinthian knights used. "It will cause a major uproar in the village, especially if Barnham spots us - since HE, like everyone else, thinks you're DEAD!"

"Dead men tell no tales?" Maya snickered as she pressed a finger to his lips, silencing his next objection before he could make it. "Nor do they show up at costume parties! Nobody will ever suspect me – OR you, since you're wearing that Zorro mask!"

"Maya!" Phoenix groaned as they entered the darkened secret passageway and heard the blaring music going on ahead in the distance. "I swear I don't know why I let you talk me into these things!"

"Because you LURVE me!" She winked, a knowing smirk on her lips as she suddenly stopped in her tracks and yanked him by the tie so his lips were only inches from hers. "Not that you'd be able to deny it, since I have my trusty magatama on hand, but also because Espella told me how morose you were when you thought I had gone to the Twilight Realm!"

"Guilty!" Phoenix sighed rapturously as she ran her fingers through his spikes with one hand and ran her fingernails over his chest with the other. "Not that YOU could deny it either! You're not the only one who has a mystical gemstone you know!"

"I wouldn't dream of it!" Her voice turned into a sultry purr. "Plus, don't tell me you're not finding the extra element of the dangers of being caught kinda HOT, Nick! But methinks the gentleman might require some EXTRA…persuasion in order to complete our stealthy mission tonight."

She pulled him even closer and, raising one slender leg, wrapped it around his hip.

"Have I told you how dead SEXY you look in that mask, Sir Blue Knight?"

Powerless to resist her, Phoenix felt his pulse race as he realized exactly what her intentions were, and with a moan of defeat, pushed her back against the tunnel wall, this time having NO objections whatsoever as her fingers deftly began pushing his suit jacket down his arms and then began unbuttoning his shirt.

"Maya Fey, you make me burn hotter than any fires in any pits in all of this damn medieval town," he growled, before he pressed his searing lips against her throat, making her gasp and arch against him. "Even if we get busted, I'd rather be in hell with you than in heaven with anyone else."

"Light my fire, Sir Blue Knight," Maya whispered as his mouth slid up her neck to claim hers. "You'll always be MY eternal flame."


	2. Turnabout Spin

_Mr. Coffee: Leave to my almost sister-in-law to coax Trite and Mr. Uptight to playing junior high school level games to spice up a party! Naturally, hijinx ensue._

 _This reader request drabble is brought to you by the Wrighter of **Gordy Gumshoe Goodness** and **The Man Behind The Mask** starring me and my kitten, Jove's Boy._

* * *

 ** _Turnabout Spin_**

"Wright, I can't believe you're making me do this."

"Oh come on, Edgeworth! Live a little! You only get one birthday a year, you know."

 _How had it come to this?_ Wondered Edgeworth. _I'm soon to be years old. That's practically middle age! Leave it to Wright and Maya to throw a surprise party with NO warning, make it as lavish as possible, and invite practically everyone who is_ _ **everyone**_ _!_

Yet each person there was holding a special place in Miles Edgeworth's heart. There were Dick Gumshoe and his wife, their two sons at home with a babysitter—clumsy, often a couple of quarter notes short of a measure, but a man with complete loyalty to Edgeworth and devotion to his profession.

Kay Faraday, a young woman with a great sense of adventure.

Adrian Andrews and Simon Blackquill, both of whom had had all manner of false accusations levied against them—strong individuals who had taught Miles Edgeworth to trust.

Ema Skye and Klavier Gavin, with their infectious enthusiasm and commitment to their talents.

Trucy Wright and her fiancé—the only man who had ever been able to get all the way through Nick's intensive screening and background checks required to date his daughter. In the Wright Anything Agency, if Phoenix was the brains of the operation and Apollo and Athena the brawn, Trucy brought the heart to the table. (Well, Edgeworth wasn't too sure about the trio's roles, but there was no denying Trucy's.)

Then there was Maya Fey. She had foregone her usual purple robes that identified her as a spirit medium and tonight was sporting a stunning ruby day dress and a simple necklace that bore her Kurain Master's talisman. He had met Maya in the strangest of circumstances as he had tried to lock her in jail and throw away the key for murdering her sister. Of course, if he had known then what he knew now, he could have saved everyone a lot of trouble if he had actually bothered to investigate further, but it had turned out okay in the end. Well, better than okay. Maya had soon become one of his best friends and staunchest allies.

Maya had decided a game of Spin the Bottle was in order. OF COURSE she had decided on Spin the Bottle, and _of course,_ Phoenix Wright, his best friend, was going along with it (though Wright wanted to call the game " _Turnabout Spin_ ").

Detective Gumshoe had just emerged from a rather long and exaggerated make-out session with his wife (prompting catcalls, whistling, cheers, and protests telling them to get a room). Next up was Miles Edgeworth himself, so he grudgingly picked up the empty bottle of grape juice, hefted it, and brought it down on Larry Butz's head, cackling maniacally, experiencing a great sense of release as he stood over the body of the one man who had been nothing but trouble for the past 32 years.

(Or at least that was what Edgeworth imagined. His desire to stay out of prison got in the way of that dream. Besides, empty grape bottle murder was more Kristoph Gavin's style, and he was sure neither Wright nor Kristoph's younger brother would appreciate that.)

Chuckling quietly while knowing perfectly well that the Butz was an invaluable friend as well, the crimson prosecutor stood self-consciously and spun the bottle. Round and round it went, slower, slower, slower … then came to a stop, the green bottle's neck pointing straight at Phoenix Wright.

A cacophony of laughter, jeering, and catcalls echoed through the bar. "Maya Fey!" the blue attorney opined with glee. "Are you okay with this?"

Maya winked flirtatiously, grabbing Phoenix by the front of his blue T-shirt and planting an exaggerated, wet kiss on his lips, then shoved him straight at Edgeworth. "Take all the time you need!"

The Chief Prosecutor glared at the bottle, seeking for evidence that it might _not_ have been pointing at _Wright_. If it was even off by a few degrees … but _no_.

 _Well, could be worse_ , thought Edgeworth. _At least_ _ **Wendy Oldbag**_ _isn't here_!

"Come on, Edgey-poo!" Teased Larry in a sing-song voice. "You and Nick deserve some … _alone_ time … together!"

"That's right, Miley-boy!" Added Iris Hawthorne, who was there that night as Larry's plus-one. "Give in, give in to your _feelings_!"

" _Iris_!" thundered Edgeworth. "I'll thank you not to nickname me after that trashy pop singer who—ACK!"

Phoenix seized his arm and began pulling him toward the hallway.

"St-stop! Help me! _NGHHOOOGH_!"

"All in a day's work for Maya Fey, Ace Assistant!" Maya laughed.

"Wright, have you _completely lost your mind_?" Edgeworth screamed as he and Phoenix arrived at their destination. "This is the BOYS' bathroom! We're not little girls who have to go to the bathroom together to fix their makeup and talk about BOYS!"

"HOLD IT! _That_ only happened in the Pink Princess movie that came out last year!" Phoenix reminded him. "YOU know the scene. It was when Oldbag's character got— "

"OBJECTION! I told you never to say that woman's name in my presence _ever again_! We don't want a repeat of her stunt a few months ago when she tried to win me over using a chipmunk _with pink fur!"_

"Oh yeah, the chipmunk," Phoenix remarked thoughtfully. "Did she do that with hair dye or spray paint?"

"That is _besides the point!"_

"Ah! It was food coloring all along. TAKE THAT, Edgeworth!"

Suddenly, Phoenix lowered his voice. "I think we can _turn this situation around_ , Edgeworth. There may very well be a way to save this. We just have to think outside the box."

A flash of light illuminated Edgeworth's mind. "I see," he said. "Are you pondering what I'm pondering, Wright?"

Phoenix pursed his lips as he thought. "That we watched way too much Pinky and the Brain when we were little?"

Edgeworth glared at him.

"I know!" Phoenix added deviously. "I've been wanting to prank Maya for ages. Here's what we're going to do … "

The life-long friends chatted amongst themselves for a time, then staged their prank.

"Oh, Edgeworth!" exclaimed Phoenix. "I've been wanting this for _so long_!"

"You are the apple of my eye! The _apple_! How could we have gone so long in denial, when the whole time, you were _right here_?"

"I've been denying it for years, Edgeworth!" Phoenix gushed passionately, knowing that their friends out there in the bar could hear the whole thing. "But there was always Maya to contend with!"

"I've been jealous of her for _years_! Maya Fey! How could I ever measure up to _her_?"

"You _can_! You _do_!"

"Oh Feenie, how your beautiful words _warm_ my heart! We can _finally_ be together now!"

Now let's make this look real, thought Edgeworth, communicating with Phoenix in that undefinable way that life-long best friends can. So he quickly raked his hands through his hair, mussing it up, then reached over and did the same to the defense attorney's.

"Ouch!" grumbled Edgeworth. "Were you _born_ with spiky hair, Wright?"

Phoenix hesitated. "Well, _actually_ — "

" _Whatever_ ," interrupted Edgeworth. He shucked off his red sweater and held it out for Phoenix, who responded in kind, taking off his shirt and giving it to his best friend. As they changed into one another's shirts, Edgeworth guffawed. "It kind of feels good! It's been a LONG time since I've played a prank. Do you think they'll buy it?"

"Let's go greet our audience … Edgey-poo!"


	3. And Justley For All

_Mr. Coffee: So Mini Trite - whom most others refer to as Apollo - turns to the arts as an untapped source of talent...and to a surprising new confidante, to whom I have no objections..._

* * *

 _ **And Justley For All**_

Nobody seemed to believe Apollo when he lamented that his life sometimes truly sucked.

It always appeared that maintaining his pride and rising above the ranks of office butt monkey just wasn't in the cards for him, even though he was no longer the most novice legal greenhorn at the Wright Anything Agency since the arrival of Athena Cykes.

On paper, it seemed as though all was quite swell for Mr. Chords of Steel. He was working for a renowned law firm with his lifelong idol, and a cheeky but lovable magician whom he adored as his own sibling. Also, he was pretty much best friends with the stunning redheaded yellow attorney, whose constant coquettish antics, (such as asking to see the tattoo on his derrière!) left him crimson-faced and tongue-tied, for reasons he presently decided would be best not to contemplate, because mixing business with pleasure was probably NOT a wise idea.

But right now he had more pressing problems. Such as the fact that Athena had recently gotten him to finally profess he was a complete pushover for Trucy and couldn't say no to her request for anything at all. This included anytime the teen needed a magician's assistant, no matter how harrowing or death-defying the stunt was!

Naturally, word of his invertebrate status had gotten back to Phoenix and hence, Maya, the boss's not so undercover girlfriend ( _why_ couldn't those two shamelessly flirtatious lovebirds just admit they were an item already? They were fooling _no one_!) that the Clarion of Revelations was a World-Class Marshmallow when it came to the ladies.

So of course, the plucky village leader _had_ to find to capitalize on this somehow!

"Nick!" The Master of Kurain turned Local Community Theater Director was squealing at her not so secret lover, while looping an arm around the unsuspecting red attorney's shoulder. "This guy is perfect, I'm telling you! He even understands ladders!"

Apollo attempted to maneuver away from the surprisingly strong arms snaked around his neck of the petite spirit medium and failed miserably.

"You mean ' _stepladders'_?" He muttered under his breath, for no reason at all as it turned out Maya was barely listening as she continued to chatter excitedly to the blue attorney, who was up to his eyeballs in paperwork on his desk.

"We'll talk about _that_ later, Polly," she dismissed.

Maya blissfully ignored the scowl Apollo gave her for addressing him by the totally degrading nickname he had finally acquiesced to only let TRUCY call him and continued to prattle on to Phoenix.

"Right now, I want to take him with me to The Penrose Theatre. I have all the parts cast except the lead in my stage play: _**DUELING SPIRIT DESTINIES: TRIUMPH OVER TRIALS &TRIBULATIONS IN QUEST OF JUSTICE FOR ALL! **__Your_ protégé, Nick, shall be the perfect final addition as my Pink Princess! I can just _feel_ it!"

Apollo felt his horns drooping. The Pink Princess?! Wasn't bad enough that his employer saw him as his own personal Josephine the Plumber since he was permanently on toilet bowl duty despite no longer being the latest member of the agency?! Now he was about to be further emasculated by playing a GIRL?! What if he had to KISS a guy while in drag?! What would Athena think?! And Trucy would never let him live this down in a million years!

 _This_ really bit the big one!

The gamin let out a long-suffering sigh. Mia's revered Slender Palm Lily, which had once a gift from her boyfriend, Diego Armando, would have been as long dead as its original owner by now, were it not for him, as the spiky fringed lawyer was the only one who took care of it!

Still, he didn't really mind tending for the cherished plant of Phoenix's beloved late mentor. The _Cordyline stricta_ was quite lush and beautiful, seeming to thrive under his TLC, and was certainly preferable to working his biceps into a frenzy scrubbing the toilet!

He continued eyeing his boss with pleading eyes, trying desperately to telepathically convey his blatant reluctance to the older man about his willingness to partake in Maya's latest whim.

Luck appeared to be on Apollo's side for once, as Phoenix appeared to be unyielding on the subject.

"No dice, Maya." The spiky-haired man crossed his arms and shook his head. "I'm afraid you're going to have to find another leading lady for your production."

Maya's chin began to wobble dramatically as she let out a heart-wrenching whimper which would've rivaled that of a stray tramp begging for table scraps.

"Sorry Maya," Phoenix replied firmly, averting his gaze away from his girlfriend's puppy dog eyes. "But I need Apollo here. After all, SOMEONE has to clean the toilet, sort all the documents, water Charley..."

Her boyfriend attempted to ignore the liquid pools imploring at him and swiveled his eyes towards his agonized employee.

"Um, Apollo, why are you making that face?" The legal legend asked blankly, misreading the reason for Apollo's pained expression. "Do you need to go to the bathroom or something?"

"Niiiiiiick!" Maya wailed plaintively. "You big meanie! If you don't let Apollo be in my play, it will be a complete flop! Will Powers is already playing the Steel Samurai, so I can't ask HIM! The tickets are already sold out!"

Phoenix groaned and closed his eyes.

"I'll be ruined without my main star!" Maya cried, her eyes welling up as if on cue. "My name will be mud! I'll be blacklisted! Snubbed forever by the theater community!"

"Maya, please…"

"It's either Apollo or _you_!" Her lower lip began to protrude into an adorable pout. " _Your_ choice, old man!"

Phoenix emitted a barely audible sigh of resignation. He'd never been able to say no to Maya, and he never would.

"Fine. You can have him." He shrugged at the look of horror on his employee's face at this betrayal of brotherhood. "Just try not to break him!"

"Alright, it's a deal!" Maya beamed, her tears vanishing as suddenly as they arrived. "A star is born!"

"Wait…WHAT?!" Apollo shouted helplessly as she began dragging his protesting form out the door. "NO! HOLD IT! I OBJECT!"

"No…you _human_ ," Phoenix smirked, giving the boy a mock salute. "See you in the stage lights, you feisty samurai heroine!"

"Let's go, Polly! Let's see if I can squeeze you into that pink metal bustier!"

"NOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

"The play should have been called _**FAREWELL MY DIGNITY**_!" Apollo grumbled sometime later. "Do you have any idea how badly that metal armor chafes my skin?! Somehow Klavier found out about this and instead of calling me _Herr_ Forehead I'm now _Fräulein_ Forehead!"

There was a sympathetic silence from his dialogue partner, and the red attorney reached out a loving hand tenderly stroked the potted plant's leaves, which seemed to be nodding in commiseration despite there being no breeze in the office.

"This is height discrimination, I tell you! I know Miss Maya purposely picked me to fill in the girl lead because I'm short enough to fit into the costume! I just know I'll be even more a laughingstock when all is said and done! I mean – _Will Powers_ is my on-stage love interest!"

Charley rustled slightly again, this time brushing his leaves against the lawyer's burning cheeks as he recounted the shame of the dress rehearsal.

"You're the only one who listens and doesn't mock me, Charley," Apollo lamented. "Seriously, you're the best. Definitely my favorite member of this agency by far!"

The red attorney smiled ruefully as he crouched down and watered the soil of his confidant.

"I think the reason you grow so well in my care is all these long heart-to-heart talks we have. Plants thrive when you talk to them, right? It feels so natural for me because as far as I'm concerned, you're more anthropomorphic than vegetation! But that will be _our_ little secret, OK?"

Feeling emotional, he wrapped his arms around the bottom of the terra-cotta container in a warm hug.

"I honestly believe that YOU are the only one who truly understands me. I love you, Charley the Plant."


	4. Sinful Temptation

_Mr. Coffee: Here we have one of my many exploits back when I used to work for Grossberg with my kitten. It's about tale of temptation, dirty hands, and ends with a certain lawyer crying and **wishing** it was all over..._

* * *

 _ **Sinful Temptation**_

Although she'd made smiling even in the worst of times and to never stop believing in her clients her legal go-to missions, Mia Fey had never considered her unwavering faith in both mottos, learned from her lover, Diego Armando, to be the mark of naiveté or delusion.

Mia was keenly aware that some of the accused lot who came to Grossberg Law Offices seeking her defense counsel _were_ actually guilty…as guilty as most men were in trying to peek down her blouse under the guise of making eye contact, something the busty brunette had been enduring for nearly 20 years. After all, she'd needed a bra since she was 9, and by 11 had bypassed the tensor-bandage training bras most adolescent girls required initially, and had gone straight to a 34B.

The buxom beauty had never been conceited about her model looks nor bedroom body, merely considering them to be an asset in her legal career quest. It ultimately gave her an unforeseen advantage. The boys, and then later, men, who'd always been shameless about ogling The Fey Twins was something that'd at first embarrassed, but then amused her, as her bombshell appearance tended to distract most of them from the fact that an ever bigger BRAIN came along with the assets they couldn't pry their eyes away, even with a crowbar!

It had always made her respect her boss a tenfold, for it'd always been evident that said _brains_ , not body _,_ had been what'd landed her the coveted position as the newest rookie to Marvin Grossberg's firm, alongside the rotund man, Robert Hammond, Diego and herself.

However, at that exact moment, Mia was fervently hoping her boss, in spite of being happily hitched, would prove to still be a _typical man_ in the end and succumb to her feminine wiles, in order to make her mission successful.

"I –I can't indulge, Miss Fey," the sweat-dropping, porcine old man stammered, while doing his best to keep his eyes from dropping down to the bountiful bosom, which was in tantalizing vicinity. "M-My wife would _kill_ me!"

"Come on, Mr. Grossberg," Mia coaxed in her most honeyed voice. "You _know_ you _want_ it!"

She purposefully leaned further over her employer's desk, ensuring her ample cleavage was on display and held up the sticky, homemade treat tantalizingly in front of the now red-faced, soggy hog, grateful Hammond was off with a client that day so he wasn't around to witness this display. The legal lecher had _zero_ qualms with making it evident HE noticed her assets, causing the possessive Diego to grind his teeth on daily basis.

"Just one little bite, _birthday boy_ ," Mia purred, licking her lips in a sultry fashion. "I made these brownies _especially_ for you."

She miraculously kept a straight face as behind them, Diego winked at her, then made a gagging motion of sticking his finger down his throat while he stealthily put his nimble fingers to work on opening up Grossberg's briefcase by the office front entrance table and swapping the contents inside of a particular item.

"B-But I really mustn't!" The corpulent Grossberg protested. "Mrs. Grossberg has me a strict diet…"

"Happy Birthday to you…" Mia breathed, in her best Marilyn Monroe impression to JFK. "Happy Birthday, Mr. Grossberg…"

She leaned even closer so he could feel her breath on his face, noting out of the corner of her eye, Diego was nodding and giving her a thumbs up sign before slipping back to his desk.

"….Happy Birthday to _you_!" She finished the song by playfully tapping his bulbous nose with her index. " _Boop_!"

Grossberg turned into a helpless, quivering mountain of blubbery goo.

"Well, I suppose just ONE won't kill me!"

The spectacled attorney eagerly took the enormous, frosted, chocolatey square dangling from Mia's fingertips. Greedily chomping half of it in one bite, he winked at her.

"But mums the word, Miss Fey! No telling the wife!"

"It will be our little secret, sir," Mia promised solemnly, straightening up and assuming her regular professional air as she flicked her bangs. "I'm _very_ good at keeping those…."

* * *

Tears ran down Mia's face later that night at her apartment. Diego held his girlfriend's shaking form in his arms, her cascading rivulets soaking the shoulder of his red dress shirt.

"Mystic Ami help me!" The brunette gasped, clutching her stomach as she wiped away the droplets of mirth still rolling down her cheeks. "I couldn't take the guilt any longer which is why I faked a headache and went home right after you made the switch! Grossberg really spent the next _two hours_ in the bathroom afterward?!"

"The truth is darker than a bottomless cup of coffee!" The Latino let out a loud shout of laughter. "I was genuinely debating whether or not I needed to call in a priest to exorcise those demons that befouled the men's restroom to this afternoon after he ate those laxative-laden desserts you gave him!"

"That'll teach him to betray me and my family with that snake Redd White!"

"I decided to leave early as well when I heard the banshee screams coming out of the stall after he came back to the office to try and soothe his burning culo with his trusty hemorrhoid cream which he keeps in his briefcase!" Diego snorted. "I imagine the acid of the lemon I added to his new mixture gave the term 'like the scent of fresh lemon' a whole new meaning! Am sure he was reliving the days of his youth with every sting!"

"I feel so guilty!" Mia tittered, dissolving into another fit of giggles. "Even though he SO deserved it!

"You have nothing to feel guilty about, kitten," Diego assured her, taking one of her hands in his own and placing a kiss on it. "After all, I'M the one who baked those special brownies – you were just the delivery girl!"

"I was the mastermind who drove the getaway car even though you're the one who robbed the bank?" Mia asked, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"Damn straight!" He declared shamelessly, planting a lingering kiss on her mouth. "I refused to let my kitten get these beautiful hands dirty!"

"Well, they're about to get a whole lot _dirtier_ ," she purred, already reaching for the clasp of his belt and expertly snapping it open. "Along with the _rest_ of me…"

" _Mi pecado dama,"_ Diego growled against her lips as she went to work relieving him of his attire. "I take it this is Bonnie's way of thanking her Clyde?"

"Bonnie and Clyde – serving justice wherever it's called for," she swore, the love in her voice evidence despite the lusty expression in her beautiful amber eyes. "That's us, Diego Armando. Now and forever"

"We go together, ride or die."


	5. Bake Expectations

_Mr. Cofee: This reader/fan request was made by a lover of DGS - and Trite's great-grandparents, who for the sake of my Western tongue,I prefer to simply call Su and Ryu. Can the Japanese defense attorney make sure his baking efforts for his legal assistant **rise to the occasion** and don't **fall flat?**_

* * *

 _ **Bake Expectations**_

" _Hold it_!" Ryūnosuke Naruhodō cried out with dismay, frantically putting a hand on Gina Lestrade's arm, which was vigorously whisking away. "Please subdue your actions! You are turning the _cream_ into _butter_!"

"Give me a _break_!" The blonde teen scowled at her friend. "Isn't that what I'm _supposed_ to do? The recipe for this weird foreign cake of yours says to _cream_ together the sugar and butter until well combined!"

"I – I am sorry," Naruhodō withered under the heat of her indignant glare. "I do not mean to seem ungrateful for your kindly assistance, Gina-san. I only mean to –"

"To _what_? Drive me _mad_ by your harping expectations of me to transform from _prize pickpocket_ to some sort of _pastry chef_ all of a sudden?" She puffed out her cheeks and stamped her foot. "I'm doing the best I can, you know!"

"Now, now, there's no need to get so _tetchy_!" Iris Watson chided as she set down the bowl of _shiro-an_ vanilla frosting she'd been mixing for the confections. Her red spirals bounced atop her head as she came over and reassuringly patted the frazzled young man on the shoulder. "Number one, it's not a _weird_ recipe – it's his mother Sayuri's family secret recipe for traditional Japanese Butter Mochi Cake…"

"SAY- YOOR-EE?" Gina interrupted, pursing her lips. "Bugger and blast! Do _none_ of you foreigners have names that are _easy_ to pronounce?!"

"My mother's name _Sayuri_ , translates into _small lily_ , a much favored floral, as well as tea, back in my native home country, Gina-san."

Naruhodō stifled back further sharp rebuttal to the rude commentary, then resumed his painstaking tending to the _Sakura-mochi_ he'd been laboring over for the past few hours and silently agonized over why _everything_ in his life had to be so _damn complicated!_

Sayuri Naruhodō, ( _née_ Riko, which meant _logic child_ , even though the stubborn family matriarch was anything _but_ that!) had been descended from one of the Emperor's royal chefs, and had insisted on maintaining her ancestor's inherited gastronomic passions, traditions and recipes. Ergo, her husband, Hisahito (which translated into _virtuous, calm and everlasting_ ) and only child had long been spoiled as the key consumers of her delectable feasts and desserts, which were all fit for _any_ emperor or king!

The only problem was that her personalized twists of trademarked chef genius were so convoluted, they were nearly _impossible_ to emulate for a culinary neophyte like her son, whom she'd always shooed away from the kitchen whenever he'd offered his assistance!

A great example was this particularly complex recipe for the cherry blossom rice cakes. They'd been Naruhodō's favorite indulgence and he fervently hoped to impress with, as well. Conventionally, the _sakura-mochi_ should've been sweet and pink on the outside with a red-bean paste filling and a pickled sakura leaf for the covering. The thing was, his mother had never really been someone who'd be considered "by the book" and had her own spin on the Japanese treat. When preparing the anzuki beans for anko red bean paste, she'd also cut up plenty of red Kyoto cherries before reducing them in a pot to make a delicious syrup.

Afterwards, she'd mix the anko and cherries together with a small portion of the cherry syrup, thus making the filling, and then using the remaining syrup to dye the white rice a more pinkish color, making the _mochis_ more _daifuku_ than actual mocha. Finally, instead of topping the tasty treats with the traditional pickled sakura leaves, Sayuri's final flourish was to take dried sakura flowers and coat them in sugar water. He wasn't sure _what_ kind of kitchen magic his mother used, but it always ended with the cherry blossom petals looking really sparkly and pretty, a delight to both the eyes and taste buds alike.

Unfortunately in this case, Naruhodō's expertise seemed to be limited to the courtroom, where his hands were best used for desk slamming, and likewise, his own _not-so-nimble_ fingers were only effective for pointing at his rival prosecutor – in the kitchen he was _all thumbs_!

Evidently, the family's gifted cookery genes had come to a screeching halt with Sayuri, as this final decorative task was taking him _forever_ to complete. Also, to his mounting dismay, the mangled _sticky_ – not _shiny_! – conglomerate lump of petals were _nowhere_ near as aesthetically pleasing as his mother's, nor did they resemble _any_ sort of flower that existed in nature!

He moaned softly under his breath and cursed his rotten luck, along with his keen eagerness to achieve what appeared to be mission impossible. Any other sane man would have given up by now and just purchased a local, store-bought baked item at this point, such as the Victoria Sponge Cake which those of the British Empire seemed to favor so much.

However, Susato Mikotoba _loved_ all things conventionally feminine, such as the color pink, (as evidenced by her choice of regular attire) sweets, and of course, flowers. Moreover, his legal assistant distinctly adored _sakura,_ and wistfully sighed every time they'd pass a cherry blossom tree.

So how could he _not_ attempt to gift her with both her heart's desires, _today_ of all days?

"Ginny, be _nice_ to Narudy for once!" Iris had her hands on her hips as she sternly chided the visibly petulant Gina for her misconduct. "It's obvious he wants to give Sussie a taste of his family's traditional recipes from back home, and as his friends, we agreed to help out with this, so no more grousing!"

"Fine! Quit your nagging already!" Gina grumbled as she began icing the large Butter Mochi cake. "I gave my word that I'd help play ace baker, and I _meant_ it, so you needn't worry about me going along with his besotted game of _'I Want You to Want Me, I Need You to Knead Me and I'd Love You to Loaf Me'_!"

Naruhodō's grasp of the English language, which had been nonexistent up until a few months ago, was remarkably good, but as a non-native speaker of the language, certain idioms and witticisms _still_ went right over his head.

Which meant he was left utterly flummoxed as to why the former sneak thief's last words resulted in the genius inventor's orbs to begin brimming with tears of mirth.

"Meaning you're going to _batter up_ , and _it's all or muffin_?" Iris twittered. "Because all your griping was _baking me_ crazy!"

"It's a _crumbly job_ , but I _knead the dough_!" Gina quipped as her eyes twinkled with merriment. "So this is _how I roll_!"

Naruhodō was as confused as a homeless man on house arrest as both girls then dissolved into uncontrollable gales of laughter. His bewilderment was evident, as the ever-perceptive Iris noted his lost expression, and sobered instantly.

"Sorry, Narudy just a little baker's humor there to lighten to mood," she apologized, then turned back to Gina. "Let's show some compassion for the poor man here! He's only acting like such a _perfectionist drill sergeant_ because he wants everything to _perfect_ for Sussie's surprise birthday dinner tonight!"

"I don't understand why you adults have to play these silly, coy games!" Gina shook her head. "The Orient is obviously going through all this trouble because he's so _madly in love with her_! Why the buttoned-up lip? Try being _honest_ for a change, _be a whisk-taker_ , and just _tell_ her, for _heavens' cake_!"

Naruhodō felt his cheeks flaming at hearing his innermost, yet obviously _transparent_ emotions for the Asian beauty, who'd first gotten under his skin, then flooded his mind, and finally his heart, stated so bluntly. Denial obviously would get him nowhere, so he threw up his hands in resignation before plopping his elbows down onto the kitchen counter and buried his head in his hands.

"It's not so simple, Gina-san," he explained miserably. "Aside from the fact that I have no idea how Susato-san feels about me…"

"We already know she _loves_ to _Susato-Throw_ you to the floor whenever you get out of line!" Gina snickered relentlessly. "I _really_ need her to teach me that _Susato-Drop_ move of hers, too! A girl can never be _too_ prepared, you know!"

The lawyer eyed her despairingly, failing to comprehend how reinforcing the belief that the girl of his dreams had more of a _yen_ for _manhandling_ him, rather than _for_ him, was supposed to make him feel any better!

"Don't worry about her tossing you through the air like pizza dough, Narudy." Once again his expression gave away his thoughts, and Iris smilingly patted his sugar encrusted hand. "At least Sussie always looks _sincerely sorry_ right after she does it! And lately she's even offered you a hand to help you get back up when it looks like she may have tossed you _a bit too hard_!"

"Methinks her _flinging you around like a ragdoll_ is how she shows her affection?" Gina mused slyly, flashing him a wicked grin. "Or maybe that's her decorous way of trying to assess whether or not she can just go ahead, _get on top of_ you and _pin you do_ wn…"

" _Yameru_ , Gina-san!" Naruhodō cried as he raised a hand to stop the unseemly words. " _Please_! Y –you mustn't even make _jest_ about about Susato-san's impeccably genteel character! She is the _perfect_ example of hospitable respectability and _never_ exhibits anything other than good manners and propriety behavior towards everyone she encounters!"

The scamp's eyes widened, as she was so unaccustomed to the normally mild-mannered Asian ever raising his tone, even though this time, it'd been to defend his beloved's good name from any sort of slander, even as a joke.

"Cor blimey, she really is your _chuckaboo_ , isn't she?" Gina breathed, her voice filled with wonder. "I can't even take the mickey with you about your demure fair maiden ever being anything but _bang up to the elephant_ – you've got her on that high of a pedestal! What I can't fathom is _how_ you can go on feeling this way about her, but keep bloody mum about it!"

"The Japanese don't say, _'I love you,'_ as often as people in the West do, mainly because of cultural differences," he explained helplessly, feeling his cheeks warming again. "Instead, love is expressed by manners or gestures…."

"Which is why Narudy felt a need to ease Sussie's homesickness with some homemade recipes on her birthday, rather than just _buying_ her some trifle and sticking a candle in it," Iris added matter-of-factly. "I've been reading up about the ways of the land of the rising sun. When Japanese do put their feelings into words, they're more likely to use the phrase " _suki desu_ " which literally means " _to like_."

"Like _whom_ , if I may be so bold to ask?" A familiar voice inquired mildly, making the three friends spin around in surprise as they saw the topic of their chinwag standing in the doorway, having apparently caught the tail end of the conversation.

" _Susato-san!"_ Naruhodō felt the blood drain from his face as he frantically pondered how much the birthday girl, who was presently standing beside him, had overheard. "W-we didn't expect you to be back so early – nor return without Holmes-san!"

"I did not intend to eavesdrop." Susato bowed her head slightly, but still bore a puzzled smile. "Yet I could not help to have my curiosity piqued, due to the subject matter."

"Wherever _is_ the good detective?" Demanded the normally pacifist man, who at that moment would have cheerfully _throttled_ his friend, who'd had but _one job_ that day – to keep Susato _out of the house_ until the festive preparations were ready that night! "We thought you two would not return until this evening!"

"Holmes-sama took Susato to the Old Bailey library to explore some wonderful historical crime archives and photos," she explained. "But then he mysteriously vanished while she was engrossed in some riveting periodicals, and by then, it was closing time, so Susato had no choice but to come back home."

"Stop looking so worried, Narudy! I invented this thing to have _multi-purposes_!" Iris finally paused in the act of firing decorative icing rosettes onto the cake with her ever-present shooting gadget and turned to gawk at the Asian girl. "Wait! Do you mean to tell us that Holmsies just _left_ you there and made you have to find your way back across town _all by yourself_? That's not very nice! He needs _a good talking to_!"

"I can't _wait_ to hear his explanation for _this_ one!" Gina frowned and crossed her arms. "And you wonder why I don't trust adults! Holmes couldn't even be trusted for this _sole task_!"

"Did I manage to beat her back here?"

At that moment, Holmes himself stumbled into the room, slightly out of breath, and the goggles which rested atop his head knocked askew. The detective's gaze immediately fell upon the indignant Iris, the flustered Naruhodō, the accusing Gina, and the completely confused Susato standing together and he blew out a labored breath. Then with a resigned shrug, he clamped his pipe back between his teeth and turned his palms up towards the ceiling.

"Well, I _tried_! Stop looking at me like that – I ran as fast as I could! I really didn't think I could be outrun by a girl wearing a _dress_!"

"It's not a _dress_ , it's a _kimono_!" Gina snapped. "Even an uneducated street kid like _me_ can tell the difference!"

"Holmsies!" Iris scowled, then expertly shot a blast of icing at her foster father, hitting him square in the chest with a bullseye cake rosette, ignoring his shocked expression. "How could you just _leave_ Sussie behind like that, you big meanie!"

"I took the young lady for an in-depth, exclusive look into some fascinating true crime cases in our nation's history – _my own_ , of course, being amongst them – but my unprecedented negligence was partially the fault of those daft fools who chronicled my cases! I felt it was my forsworn duty as a historically famous figure to advise the grossly inaccurate reporting for _The Sign of the Four_! The murder weapon was a _blow_ dart, not a _playing_ dart!"

Holmes sounded somewhat sheepish as he attempted to brush off the sugary bullet from his trench coat.

"Unfortunately, I was given word to the curator had left for the day and was all the way across town! I assumed my captivated guest would be so absorbed in her reading that I make the trip, inform the misinformed good man about this _gross historical inaccuracy_ , and make my way back before she even noticed my absence. Obviously, I miscalculated my deductions about how long the jaunt would take. I apologize for this inconvenience."

The silence that met this explanation was so deafening you could have heard a pin drop.

Holmes awkwardly cleared his throat and fiddled with his pipe to avoid the incredulous three sets of eyes glaring disapprovingly at him. Luckily for him, the unassuming brunette broke the reproachful reticence with her trademarked graciousness.

"Please do not worry yourself, Holmes-sama. It was still a most pleasant day spent, nevertheless. I enjoyed learning about the fascinating cases in the history of the British Empire, so thank you kindly for taking me." Susato smiled sweetly. "As I walked back from the Old Bailey, I took the scenic route and got to see the splendorous Hyde Park, which has the most magnificent trees and florals in bloom. And speaking of things that are blooming…"

She cast a sideways glance at Naruhodō, then dropped her eyes before speaking again.

"Susato apologizes for _ear-worming_ , as they say here, but it seems the Western adage is true in this case, is it not, Naruhodō-sama? ' _In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.'_ Whoever is the most fortunate one to have taken a hold of your heart? Is it someone she knows?"

Naruhodō gulped and felt his throat closing up, as his worst nightmare was coming true. It would have been mortifying enough if Susato had overheard their entire conversation about his unrequited affections – but _this_ – this was _far worse!_ She actually believed he fancied _another_! How in the world was he going to get _out_ of this sticky situation – which was somehow a bigger mess than the one he'd made with the _sakura-mochi_?!

His panicked eyes swung towards Gina and Iris, and realized that he'd hit a dead end there in gaining any assistance as they were both awkwardly shuffling their feet and avoiding his pleading glance.

"Ginny, you have _got_ to show me that sleight of hand, pickpocketing technique of yours again," the Sherlock Holmes writing genius announced swiftly, grabbing a hold of the teen's arm and tugging her towards the exit. "Holmsies, _you_ really need to see this, too! Come on now, let's chivvy along!"

"But – aren't we going to having some of that splendid-looking birthday cake?" The forever gormless Detective asked blankly, failing to clue into a blatant hint, as was tradition. "I'm actually feeling a bit peckish after my harried excursion today…"

"We'll eat it _later_ , when the other guests arrive!" Iris hissed in a stage whisper, waving her shooting device menacingly in the air. "Now come along, Holmsies - don't make me have to _use_ this thing again!"

"Let's keep calm and carry on then!" Holmes wisely hurried after the two girls without another word, leaving Susato and Naruhodō alone in the room, with her question hanging over their heads like a dark cloud.

" _Birthday cake_?" Susato's rosebud lips parted into an _O_ of delighted surprise as her almond eyes, at last, noticed the cake and the other sweets on the counter. "I –is that… for _me_?"

" _All_ of this was for you, Susato-san." He nodded morosely and spread out his arms. "We wished to bake some treats in honor of your birthday. A thousand pardons that the element of surprise was ruined… along with the sakura floral decoration for the rice cakes, even though I followed my mother's recipe to the hilt."

He smiled sheepishly.

"I feel you have been extra homesick as of late, hence my efforts to make you some accustomed dishes of our people. Ah, perhaps if you scrape off the petals, the _sakura-mochi_ will at least still _taste_ the same as they do back home…"

"The appearance does not matter to me, Naruhodō –sama." Susato placed a placating hand on his arm, her fair cheeks pink with pleasure. "I –I am most touched by your considerate gesture. How lucky I am to have dear friends who cared to go to all this trouble for my benefit! You are _not_ unsuccessful in surprising me, as this is a most _unexpected_ but pleasant discovery nonetheless! I am especially tickled in knowing that above all, _you_ actually tried your hand in the unexplored kitchen – for _my_ sake!"

Realizing she was still touching his arm, she hastily removed her fingers from his sleeve, then clasped her hands together and dropped her gaze.

"You are truly kind, Naruhodō-sama. T –the young lady who has your affections is most fortunate, indeed."

Naruhodō felt a lump forming in his throat. It didn't even matter anymore that Susato was so courteous that she would overlook, and even be _thankful_ , for his less than picturesque dessert efforts. The fact that she believed he could do all of this for her sake, and _still_ have room for _another_ woman in his heart made him feel positively _ill_. He couldn't let this go on for another instant!

Unaware that he was gathering up his courage to make the biggest gamble of his life, Susato's eyes remained on the ground.

"I can understand your infatuation, surely. These girls of the British Empire are so incredibly fetching to behold, what with their big, jewel-toned eyes and peaches and cream complexions…"

" _Hai_ , Susato-sand!" He cried desperately. "I – I cannot bear to hear you speak about such matters for another minute!"

"Have I said something which displeases you?" She regarded him quizzically. "Am I inaccurate in my assessment that you find these Western girls to be pretty?"

"Sure they are… b –but so are _you_!" He blurted out before he could stop himself.

There was a heart-pounding moment of stillness between them that felt like ages, until Susato shook her head, the oval loops of her raven mane swaying as she did so.

"Do not feel a need to pretend with me, Naruhodō-sama." Her voice sounded unsteady. "You know I am not worthy of such a compliment. While I do not believe myself to be displeasing to the eye, and know I am not ugly, I am certainly not pretty."

 _Susato Mikotoba truly is a swan in a country full of peacocks_ , he thought with a trace of amusement. _Her overt modesty about her own appearance only makes me love her even more._

She peeked up at him through her lashes, and noticed the strange look on his face now. It seemed like he had stopped breathing.

"What is it?" Her heart skipped a beat. He was studying her. Taking in every line of her ethereal visage from her finely sculpted jaw to her pastel cheekbones to her satiny ebony tresses.

Naruhodō reached over suddenly and ran his fingers quickly through her hair, brushing a stray strand away from her forehead. Before her mind could register the unfamiliar intimacy of the gesture, he drew his hand back and surveyed her solemnly.

"I agree with you. You are _not_ pretty."

Her heart plummeted to her feet at the cruel words, which only fed her underlying insecurities. But the attorney wasn't done just yet.

"I like how you look," he continued, his voice shaking slightly. "You are highly intelligent – more than I could ever be. You came here to a foreign country with a man you never knew so you are courageous and brave. You never let me give up even when it seems all hope is lost because you are so loyal and encouraging. That is why I cannot concede that you are merely _pretty_ , Susato-san, for to _me_ , you are absolutely _beautiful_."

"B-but these Western girls," she stammered, still unwilling to believe what she was hearing. "T-they are all so uniquely distinct in appearance that they are _otherworldly_ levels of beautiful…"

"So are _you_ ," he insisted. "And in a very different way from these Western girls. You exude such a deep-rooted inner poise and dignified radiance, it makes your own delicate beauty _far_ beyond any other in comparison."

Susato said nothing to this, because she had nothing to say. _Beautiful_. Nobody had ever called her that before, except her late mother, which didn't count. Mothers were required to think you were beautiful. She gazed into his captivating mocha eyes, and was sure she was making him uncomfortable with the staring, but she didn't seem to be able to stop. Ryūnosuke Naruhodō was so handsome, in that endearingly boyish charming way of his. And he had called her _beautiful_. She felt a warm tingle all the way down to the tips of her toes.

"All right," she said finally. To her relief, her voice sounded normal. It was a further relief to finally look away from him as she turned around. "After all the efforts you, Iris-sama and Gina-sama went through for me, I – I should at least help clean up some of this mess made from earlier."

Susato made a move to step around him and head towards the sink full of pans and dishes. In between one step and another, she saw a silver spark gleaming on the floor: It was the knife he'd been using to cut the butter, lying on its side. She jerked hastily back to avoid stepping on it, and her shoulder bumped his. Just as she turned to apologize, he put a hand out to steady her.

The unanticipated tactile contact resulted in her emitting a tiny gasp. As her hand flew to her lips, making the sleeve of her kimono fall back, his warm fingers gently closed over her bared arm. His hand rested gently against her flesh, not passing through or sinking in. She made no resistance as he pulled her toward him, and then she was somehow in the circle of his arms. Her startled wide orbs met his dark ones, which were filled with emotion. For a breathless second, they remained on hers, and he didn't speak. Then he took her face in his hands, his fingers strong against her skin, and leaned in close.

"In a room, or even a _nation_ , full of these British girls, I only have eyes for _you_ , Susato-san," he whispered and then his mouth, so warm and soft, brushed over hers, once, twice … and lingered.

For an infinitesimal moment, Susato froze. She had no idea what to do with herself. No idea where to put her hands or whether to move her lips or how to even breathe.

 _Kiss him back, for God's sake_! She told herself.

Then she stifled a surprised, embarrassed, happy laugh and did as she was told. She returned his pressure and instinctively wound her hands into his hair, as she'd wanted to do since the first time she'd seen him. His jet-black spikes curved around her fingers, silky and fine and so much softer than they looked.

He pulled back, out of nowhere, and looked her in the eyes. "Is this okay?" he asked shyly.

Susato mutely, dumbly, breathlessly nodded. She just wanted his lips on hers. He smiled and kissed her again. His lips softened, and she tasted him as he tasted her, reveling in the faintly sweet sensation of cherries in his mouth. This time she stood up on her tiptoes, leaning her body closer to his. What she couldn't believe was how perfect this felt. How excited and happy and thrilling and safe all at the same time.

 _Why did I waste my time sneak-reading all these Victorian romances, when real-life romance has been awaiting me?_ She wondered as he lightly trailed a finger down her cheek. _How could I have been so busy burying my nose in my books that I failed to see Naruhodō-sama was right here, all along?_

She could feel the rapid beat of his heart against the wild pounding of her own, and savored the feeling of those sweet lips on hers, now familiar—ones she'd imagined, dreamed about, memorized a million hours ago.

And then it hit her: Ryūnosuke Naruhodō was the one.

The one she'd always first want to share her great news with. The one she could talk to. The one she always thought of when something funny or weird or interesting happened. He was smart and hilarious and kind and thoughtful. And she loved him. Oh, how she loved him.

When they drew apart at last, she was loath to leave the warm shelter of his arms, and snuggled closer to his heat, bracing her free hand against the nape of his neck as she stared up searchingly into his tender gaze.

"Happy Birthday, Susato-san."

" _Doumo arigatou gozaimasu_. I need you to know that I _never_ feel homesick when I am with you, Naruhodō-sama," she whispered. "For _you_ are my home."

His heart was in eyes as he leaned down and touched his forehead to hers, finally speaking the words he'd yearned to say for so long.

" _Aishiteru wa,_ Susato-san."

" _Aishiteru yo_ , Naruhodō-sama."


	6. Colliding Kismets

_Mr. Coffee: This unconventional Magshoe courtship tale could have easily been called: **"** **How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Misfortune (Maiden)** "..._

* * *

 **Colliding Kismets**

"It wasn't meant to be like _this_!" Dick Gumshoe raked his ham-sized mitts through his unruly hair in agitation as he trekked the short path of the room for the umpteenth time. "Why does this sort of thing keep happening to her? To _us_?!"

"Will you _cease_ that relentless pacing, Detective?" Miles Edgeworth crossed his arms over his chest and looked disapprovingly at his anxious subordinate over the rims of his spectacles. "You'll wear a groove into the floor!"

The chief prosecutor grimaced and shifted slightly in his hard plastic chair.

"Not that this putrid green linoleum couldn't withstand any sort of makeover, but I digress..."

"Only _you_ would be commenting on the less than ideal décor surroundings at a time like this Edgeworth!" Phoenix Wright admonished his courtroom rival, shaking his head. Coming up behind Gumshoe, he clapped a sympathetic hand on the older man's broad shoulder. "Don't your automaton settings have a _compassionate_ switch which can be turned on in dire straits like these?"

"Shut up, Wright!" The slate-haired man glared at the defense attorney. "I am _not_ a robot!"

"Not at _all_ something _an actual android_ would say in the least!" Deadpanned the Comeback King, unable to resist mocking his best friend's ever-unruffled nature, even during crisis.

" _Why_ must you be smirking like that when you say it?" Edgeworth snapped peevishly. "Just because I simply refuse to leap to the worst conclusions and join our friend in his unnecessary state of panic?"

"I can't help it, sir!" Gumshoe cried helplessly, halting in his tracks so abruptly that the commiserating and unsuspecting Phoenix walked right into his wide back – head first. "It's _Maggey_! I don't know _what_ I'm going to do if anything happens to her!"

"Then she's in the right place, should anything out of the ordinary arise, seeing as how we're in a _hospital_ ," Edgeworth pointed out, with what even Gumshoe was starting to think was overly _maddening_ calm. "After all, the Hickfield Clinic managed to release a man who suffered serious head trauma _and_ a sprained ankle after merely _one night's stay_ a few years ago."

"Yeah, she's in good hands here, big guy," the spiky-haired man added, reassuringly patting his friend on the shoulder with one hand and rubbing his sore nose, which had gotten smashed against the flatfoot's linebacker shoulder blades, with the other. "Surely you can take comfort in Maggey having the same luck?"

"The woman I love isn't some unbreakable superhero like _you_ , pal!" Gumshoe slumped down into a nearby chair and buried his head in his hands. "And all of the luck she's ever experienced has mostly been of the _bad_ variety! There's a reason her nickname was the goddess of misfortune!"

The Ace Attorneys exchanged an uncomfortable, knowing glance at the veracity of the words. The prosecutor cleared his throat awkwardly, uncertain of what to say next to such a statement.

"That may have been true in the _past_ , Gumshoe," Phoenix offered hesitantly, trying to instill some conviction into his tone. "But that was a long time ago! Surely her fortune has done a turn for the better since she met you?"

"Hardly." Gumshoe hung his head like a dejected puppy. "It's not like _I've_ had the best experiences with Lady Luck myself! If anything, I think our collided kismets means a _double_ dose of tough times! Did I ever tell you about the disaster that was our _first date?_ It was right after the whole Hazakura Temple ordeal. Maggey loves the snow since she grew up in Vermont, so I thought I'd take her on a skiing date up in Eagle Mountain."

"Oh dear." Phoenix was already flinching in preparation of the tale. "Let me guess…her bad luck proceeded her, and one of you lost your sense of grace and ended up breaking a limb and ending up in the emergency room going down the bunny hill?"

"Are you kidding?" The human tank ran a hand on his face. "We didn't even make it to the ski resort!"

* * *

 _ **Flashback**_

 _Eagle Mountain Area_  
 _February 25, 2019_

"You make a terrific hot chocolate, sir!" Maggey praised as she sipped her fourth serving from the thermos cup her date had thoughtfully packed for the long car ride up to the Hazakura Temple area. "One of these days you'll have to tell me your secret of what's in this blend!"

"I'm glad you like it!" He blushed with pleasure at the knowledge that he had been responsible for the smile of content on her pretty face. "That isn't any old store-bought powder drink mix either! It's an old family recipe – that can only be passed down to Gumshoe's either by blood or marriage!"

"You mean you'll never tell me what's in this heavenly concoction unless _I_ become a Gumshoe?" She shifted in the passenger seat of the detective's old battered vehicle and grinned impishly at the driver. "I guess that means you either have to marry me or adopt me, sir!"

Gumshoe cringed at the latter option, even made in jest, as any way to bequeath his family name to the woman he'd loved for so long, and shook his head.

"Since you're no longer my subordinates on the police force, Maggey, you _do_ know that you can now call me _Dick_ , don't you?"

"Oh! Silly me!" Her cheeks grew warm at the reminder that the two were together for once in a completely _personal_ , and not all _business_ capacity. "Of course! After all, this _is_ a date…right?"

"Sure is." Feeling slightly emboldened, he removed one hand off the steering wheel and playfully tugged at the pom-pom of the winter hat sitting atop her short brunette mane. "The first of _many_ , I hope."

"I'll drink to that!" Maggey happily poured herself another cup of hot chocolate and raised in cheers. "To _possibilities_ …Dick!"

"Here, here!"

He was beaming as he took a sip from the proffered mug she raised to his lips, since he wasn't able to raise his own glass to that promising toast.

The next thing he knew, Maggey had slid across the sofa style seat and nestled up to him, gazing up at him adoringly, and he slid a strong arm around her slender shoulders, giving her a gentle squeeze while keeping the other one safely on the wheel.

Dick Gumshoe was feeling on top of the world to finally have the woman of his dreams by his side, and you couldn't have wiped the ear to ear grin off his face with an ammonia-soaked sponge. This was already going better than he ever could have imagined, and they hadn't even arrived at the destination yet!

After a few minutes though, Maggey began shifting uncomfortably beside him, and he wondered if the weight of his brawniness was becoming too much for her petite frame. Flustered, he hastily removed his arm and placed both his hands back on the wheel.

"Er, sorry," he mumbled self-consciously. "I didn't mean to –"

"No, no, it's not _you_!" She looked away, clearly embarrassed. "I – I was enjoying that, really! It's just … How far we from the ski lodge?"

"Usually it's two hours to get to Kurain's surrounding area, but it just started snowing hard in the last half hour so I'd say about another 30 minutes or so at least?"

"I'll _never_ make it!" She was officially fidgeting now, and appeared downright _pained_. "Oh my gosh! This is _so_ embarrassing…"

"What's up, Maggey?" He asked worriedly, noticing she was biting her lip while crossing and un-crossing her legs. "Talk to me."

"Nature's calling something _fierce_ , Dick!" Her cheeks flamed. "I don't think I can _wait_ that long! It's all _my_ fault of course, for being such a glutton with your yummy hot chocolate…"

"Do you need to go to the bathroom?" He asked, fighting back amusement at how adorable she was in attempting to mask her discomfort.

" _Really_ badly!" She eyed him pleadingly. "Do you think you could do a roadside stop, just for a minute?"

Without another word, he amiably pulled over to the side, wisely opting not to make a crass comment like ' _urine good hands!_ '

"Your wish is my command, Maggey. Don't be embarrassed – when you've gotta go, you've gotta go!"

"Thank you, Dick!" She pecked him on the cheek and smiled gratefully as he reached into his glove compartment to offer her some Kleenex. "I'll be right back!"

Flinging open the passenger door, she swung her booted feet onto the ground and whistled as the snow immediately swallowed her feet and ankles nearly up to her knees.

"Wow, there's _a lot_ of the cold, white stuff out here! I might need an extra minute just to make my way to the back of your car for some privacy!"

"Take your time!" He called out to her, not sure if she'd heard him over the wild rush of swirling wind.

Humming to himself, he fidgeted with the dials of his car radio, trying to find some sort of romantic music station which would hopefully restore the intimate mood they'd been enjoying prior to this. He found himself humming along to Marvin Gaye as visions of Maggey as his winter – and hopefully _year-round_! – snuggle bunny danced in his head.

However, it was by the time the crooner's "Lucky, Lucky Me" ended its second verse that he realized something was awry.

Maggey _still_ hadn't come back from taking care of her business!

He was officially starting to get worried.

 _Which seems silly because really what could possibly happen to a young woman who simply stepped outside of an armed police officer's car for a quick moment and hadn't ventured more than a few feet away?_

Still, this _was_ _**Maggey Byrde,**_ after all!

Frowning, Gumshoe wrestled with the gentlemanly need to give his date her privacy, and his mounting concern for her well-being. Stepping out, he slowly inched towards the back of the car, relieved to see the top of her pom-pom peeking from behind his trunk area.

"Maggey?" He shuffled a bit closer, while carefully averting his gaze, lest she accuse him of trying to take a peek! "Is everything OK? Um, do you need more time?"

"I relieved myself _ages_ ago!" She sounded frantic. "That's the _least_ of my concerns right now!"

"What do you mean?" He carefully moved closer, while keeping his head turned away for the sake of her modesty, noticing that although much taller than her, the snow was deep enough to come mid-calf even on _him_. "What's wrong? Did you get stuck in the snow? Do you need a hand?"

"I'm _stuck_ alright!" She sounded downright hysterical now. "But not in the _snow_!"

"What do you mean?" Gumshoe was officially worried now. "I was fretful you'd frozen your buns off out here – but you're telling me you're _stuck_?!

"I swear this level of _indignity_ could only happen to _me_!" She let out a strangled wail. "But um….yes, in a matter of speaking you could say that indeed, I _am_ freezing my butt off …and require some _immediate assistance_!"

" _What_?!"

Gumshoe was now standing right over her. As he came around the car, she tried to cover herself with her scarf and looked up imploringly into his eyes.

As he, at last, realized just what had happened, the detective burst out laughing, and tears of mirth ran down his cheeks, which morphed into ice drops in the chilly wind. The sight instantaneously gave Maggey the giggles as well, and when they finally managed to compose themselves, the two assessed the dilemma.

When she'd stepped into the deep snow and come to the back of the car, the former waitress had quickly realized that in the required crouching position she'd need to assume in order to do her business, she wouldn't have good footing, so she'd let her heinie rest against the rear fender to steady herself while she did what she had to do.

Upon finishing, however, Lady Luckless soon became aware of another sensation. As she bent to pull up her pants, the young lady discovered her buttocks were firmly glued to the car's fender. Thoughts of tongues frozen to pump handles immediately came to mind as she attempted to disengage her flesh from the icy metal. It was quickly apparent that she had a brand new problem due to the extreme cold.

The new couple sobered as the grim reality kicked in. Obviously, as comical as the situation was, they were faced with a real problem. Both agreed it would take _something hot_ to free her  
chilly cheeks from the grip of the icy metal!

"And let me guess…" she said feebly as she caught the dismay on his face. "I drank _all_ the hot chocolate, didn't I?"

"I'm afraid so," he nodded as another scarlet wave surfaced over his mug. "Our options here in the middle of nowhere, on a deserted mountain road, are sort of _limited_ …"

Thinking about what had gotten Maggey into the predicament in the first place, both quickly realized that there was only _one way_ to get her free. And it wouldn't be pretty.

"You _know_ what you need to do to get my tush off this fender… _Dick_." Maggey squeezed her eyes shut and yanked her hat down over her eyes. "I think this most definitely puts any _sir_ days long _behind_ you!"

"I sure hope I don't get stage-fright…" Gumshoe groaned in humiliation as he reached to undo his belt, thinking this surely deserved some sort of **Nightmare First Date** prize, hands down…or rather… _pants down_! "I'm not used to an _audience_ …"

" _I_ won't look if _you_ don't!"

"You know, I'm not sure _which_ one of us is a more likely candidate to _die of mortification_ right about now!"

 _ **End Flashback**_

* * *

"Good grief!" Edgeworth muttered as Gumshoe finished his tale and Phoenix dissolved into fits of laughter. "Are you sure neither of you didn't have some evil Chinese witch curse you with the words: ' _may you have interesting times'_ at some point?"

The big man looked bewildered, and the defense attorney paused long enough from his merriment long enough to insert his own editorial.

"Well… _that_ sure gives the term _pissed off_ a whole _**new meaning!**_ "

Gumshoe snorted ever so slightly, then shrugged.

"Life with Maggey has never been boring. Even the first time I tried to kiss her – which took me _quite some time_ after a first date like _that! -_ was unforgettable!"

"And why the delay?" Edgeworth queried. "Were you too embarrassed to look one another in the eye again after whole initial debacle?"

"Not at all, sir! We _still_ laugh about that one! No, we actually had our second date a few weeks later. Maggey tried to surprise me with a home cooked meal – her own family recipe of _muscles marinara_. Unfortunately, they didn't sit too well with me…"

* * *

 _ **Flashback**_  
 _Maggey Byrde's Place  
March 5, 2019_

"This is so nice!" Maggey beamed as Gumshoe helped himself to a second helping of muscles. "I've been wanting to have you over for dinner for some time to thank you for being such a good sport after – well _you know w_ hat! This recipe has been in the Byrde family for generations – I'm so happy you like it, Dick."

"You don't get too many chances to afford the luxury of seafood on an honest cop's salary," Gumshoe acknowledged ruefully.

"Well, I made out like a bandit with some of the frozen food when that French restaurant where I worked closed down!" She chirped. "It's not like it was stealing! Jean was only gonna throw the stuff out anyway!"

He pushed back his chair and wiped his mouth on a napkin, and Maggey excitedly tugged his arm.

"Shall we head over to the living room? The movie starts at 8!"

"I still can't believe after all you've been through, you want to see a movie about _cops_!"

" _Beverly Hills Cop_ is a classic, and I love Eddie Murphy! Besides, the character in there reminds me of _you_!"

" _Really_?" He settled back on the couch and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as she snuggled up against him. "I remind you of Axel Foley?"

"No silly!" She giggled and playfully tapped his nose. "You remind me of his pal _Billy_ , the adorable bumble-butt played by Judge Reinhold!"

" _Objection_!" He pretended to be hurt, but she was so endearing as she grinned up at him he couldn't even feign indignation. "I _resemble_ that remark, missy!"

The duo watched the film in contented silence, snuggled close, and he tried to focus on the film, and not the clean, floral scent of Maggey's shampoo, or the warmth of her body.

Or the warm rumblings beginning to stir in his belly.

He assumed they were merely nerves disguised as butterflies that were surfacing due to having the object of his affections sitting so close to him.

Frowning, he rubbed his stomach, hoped she wouldn't notice the strange gurgling noises beginning to surface, and crossed his fingers that the feeling would soon pass.

Even though she'd seen the crime comedy many times, the suspenseful moments always made Maggey jump, just like it they had the first time. At one point she nearly leapt from the sofa, but Gumshoe's arms around her held her down, so the only thing that went flying was the bowl of popcorn in her lap, sprinkling both of them in a buttery shower. They both snickered, and resumed watching the movie, with her comfortably curled up against him, when midway through, he shifted and started wiggling around.

She didn't think anything of his sudden shuffling, figuring he may be trying to brush straight kernels out from beneath him, but then leaned towards her with a look on his face she'd never seen before. She eagerly tilted her face towards his, assuming he was finally about to make a move….until he started making weird _grunting sounds!_

She opened her eyes wide, confusion stamped across her face. Gumshoe had never been the romantic, Romeo sort but surely even _he_ had to know that making _constipated moose noises_ was hardly a mood enhancer!

He finally used all his might and shoved her off of him, then blurted, "You're leaning on my stomach, Maggey, can _please_ you get off?"

Maggey was beyond embarrassed to realize she had been shoving her arm into his gut for support the entire time!

However, he didn't look at all relieved now that she had removed her weight from him. If anything he now looked slightly _green._

"Dick, what's wrong?" She asked quickly. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I don't know." A thin sheen of sweat broke out on his forehead. "My stomach doesn't feel too good…what was in those muscles?"

"Nothing I'd think you wouldn't like!" A feeling of dread filled her. "Just garlic, tomatoes, white wine, basil, parsley…"

" _H – how_ did you cook them?" He staggered to his feet, and she placed an anxious hand on his face, noting he felt cold and clammy. "What method?"

"Well, you steam them until they open…" she said slowly. "My mother used to use fresh ones, of course, but frozen ones seemed tricky so …"

"Are you telling me some of them _didn't open_?" Gumshoe croaked, grabbing his mid-section. "M-Maggey…didn't you check to see?"

"I was so nervous about cooking for you, I didn't really eat dinner," she confessed miserably. "I was so worried about the presentation to make the muscles just like they do in fancy restaurants, I _may_ have overlooked a few…"

"But if the muscles don't fully become ajar…" The hulking detective was outright swaying in place now. "You can get…"

The rest of his words were lost as he immediately dove his head into the nearby empty popcorn container on the coffee table.

"… _food poisoning_." Maggey gasped in horror, rubbing his back as he continued to heave into the bowl. "Oh Dick, I'm _so_ sorry!"

"I need the bathroom!" He panted, raising his head at last and stumbling down the hall. "If anyone here is sorry, it's _me_! This isn't going to be pretty…apologies in advance to your plumbing as I need to pay _a different kind_ of homage now to the porcelain God…"

 _ **End Flashback**_

* * *

"Thus ends the story of how dinner, as the encore presentation to movie night – _came up and took a bow_?" Phoenix snorted, earning a withering glare from the stern prosecutor, who was nowhere near as amused. Seafood was something the debonair attorney took far too seriously to ever laugh at!

"For the love of all that is holy!" Edgeworth was rubbing his temples as his friend finished telling the tale. " _Why_ is it the Red Cross doesn't follow you two menaces around day and night?!"

"Lighten up, Edgeworth!" Phoenix grinned. "At least these stories tell a bigger tale of love though adversity!"

"No kidding, pal! We'd been dating almost two months before I tried to kiss her," Gumshoe remembered fondly, smiling at the memory. "To the surprise of absolutely nobody here, I suppose it's needless to say that was an event in itself which can never be forgotten as well…"

* * *

 _ **Flashback**_  
 _Gatewaterland  
April 27, 2019_

 _I'd walk a million miles one of those smiles,_ Gumshoe grinned to himself as Maggey lovingly squeezed the huge Blue Badger doll he'd won for her at the rifle shooting game as they exited the theme park. _It was worth every penny of my hard earned money to put that look on her sweet face! Whoever knew that donating blood could prove to be a lucrative gig to serve as extra date funds? I judge myself for not thinking of it sooner!_

"I can't wait to get this fella home – he's joining me in bed and will rest beside my pillow, so I can be reminded of _you_ every night!" Maggey said happily, leaning over to take a bite from his cotton candy. "It's just another sign of your understated creative genius that you were part of the development team in creating this guy, Dick!"

"Mr. Edgeworth might disagree with your thoughts about the little guy, since _he_ referred to it as a wriggling piece of plywood," Gumshoe chuckled good-naturedly. "Different strokes for different folks I guess!"

"Even genius prosecutors can't be right _all_ the time!" She stated loyally. "I happen to think he's as adorable as the man who created him!"

Gumshoe felt bashful pride coursing through him, along with a wave of affection so strong he could no longer contain himself.

They'd just exited the park, and were about to step out onto the side road, but he paused mid-stride and placed a hand on Maggey's arm and stared deeply into her eyes, unaware of the danger looming on the horizon.

All he knew was that he could no longer go another moment without expressing his feelings for her.

Just as he began to lean forward though, Maggey's eyes went wild, as she saw the hazard coming towards them before he did.

" _Gah_! That maniac! Dick! Look out!"

"What the…"

Without warning, she flung her tiny frame in front of his, like a human shield, dropping her cherished stuffed animal to the ground and raising an arm protect his head – just as an enormous _Steel_ _Samurai Dog_ truck, complete with oversized Styrofoam wiener and bun atop the roof – blindly sped past them, narrowly missing the couple by inches.

Expelling a huge sigh of relief, Maggey tugged his hand and pulled him back up to the safety of the curb before bending over to retrieve the fallen Blue Badger.

It was when she turned to face him again that she finally spotted the blood…which all over his face and trench coat!

" _Sweet, merciful crap_!" She clapped a horrified hand to her mouth. "D –Dick! You're _bleeding_!"

"I believe that would be my nose." He shrugged, casually reaching into his pocket and blotting away the crimson droplets with a handkerchief. "Looks like you accidentally elbowed me in the _schnoz_ during your heroic frenzied efforts to rescue me from becoming car-meat at the hands of a crazed, out of control _Weenie-Mobile!_ "

" _I_ did this to you?!" She felt tears welling up in her eyes as she raised a trembling hand to his face. "I –I'm so sorry! Is it broken?"

"A little." Totally unfazed, he studied his reflection in her spectacles, placed his fingers on the sides of his nose, and moved it back into place with a resounding popping sound. "Ah! _There_ we go – good as new! Hurt like the dickens, but sure beats becoming road-kill!"

She started crying then. Silent tears, but hot, large ones. They were accompanied by body-heaving sobs, and he immediately became alarmed.

"Maggey, what's wrong?" He peered into her downcast face. "Hey – don't be upset! No worries about my nose – I'm a _cop_! I've broken various body parts in the line of duty more times than I can count!"

Ignoring his words, the tears continued to fall even faster now.

"Maggey, _please_ , talk to me!" He begged, shaking her shoulder gently. She shrugged his hand away and wrapped both arms around her plush doll, her petite frame shaking.

The sight of her tear-streaked face was more painful than any injury he'd ever sustained, so the poor man tried to take the comical route to lighten the mood.

"Please don't be upset! You saved my life! Moreover, you spared me from suffering the undignified post-mortem headline of: _Pig Meats Untimely End_ or _Dick Gets Plowed by Magnum Weiner_!"

" _How_ can you make jokes at a time like this?" She sobbed, finally raising liquid brown eyes to meet his confused dark ones. "I fail to see the humor of this situation! Thanks to my usual clumsiness, you've now got _blood_ all over your coat!"

" _Where_?" He glanced down at his dirty jacket and shrugged again. " _This_ one here? That's not blood – it's raspberry jelly from the donut I had last night! This coat's had more than its share of war wounds – even if there is some sort of blood on it, I'll just take it to the dry cleaners with my next paycheck! Or just consider it part of my badge of honor collection from the line of duty!"

"Why are you making light of all this, Dick?" She cried plaintively. "If you stick with me, you'll end up being buried in that damn thing – because _I'll_ somehow end up being your cause of demise!"

The words shocked him, and he stared at her speechlessly.

"At the very least, you'll end up in the _Emergency Ward_ of the hospital because of _me_!" She continued dismally, hanging her head. "I –I'm the Goddess of Misfortune! You need to get out now and save yourself while you still can! It's the story of my life – my bad luck doesn't just affect _me_ , but _everyone_ I love!"

Normally Gumshoe would have been elated by the telling detail she'd just let slip out, but the self-loathing woman wasn't anywhere near done lambasting herself yet.

"Dick, what the devil are you even _doing_ with me?" She wailed helplessly, staring up at him with lachrymose eyes, reddened from weeping. "In the past two months alone, I've forced you to _degrade yourself_ by dropping your pants – and not even in the fun way! – and risk losing a major certain body part to frostbite in trying to _save my behind_ – _**literally**_! I've then proceeded to repay your heroic kindness by nearly _killing you with food poisoning_ , and now, in trying to rescue you right back, I've made you stain the new trench coat that _I_ bought you myself…and _mangled your face!"_

"Maggey, you're being crazy!" Gumshoe insisted haplessly, wishing he knew what to say that would comfort her. "There's _no way in hell_ I'm going to let your negative self-beliefs keep me away from the sweetest, warmest, most wonderful woman I've ever known! I risk life and death _every day_ being a homicide detective! So _nothing_ you say is going to scare me away, you hear me, Margaret Charity Byrde?"

"Then you're a _fool_ , Richard Colombo Gumshoe!" She shouted desperately, dissolving into another fit of tears. "Because you know _I_ can't stay away from _you_ , either! So all you've done is seal your _own_ fate!"

For a split-second, his courage almost failed him. But then he bit his lip and bent forward. Reaching out with unsteady fingers, he gently slid the glasses off of her puffy, tear-stained face, then briefly hesitated. Taking in a steadying breath, he dropped his gaze to see…her closed eyelids, and saw that she was breathing heavily and unevenly. He smiled in surprise and, suddenly, her lids snapped open. His heart leapt and he felt the air escape from his lungs.

Maggey's orbs were like sunbaked soil, pale even though they were brown. Even when during a moment of teary, emotional upheaval, there was a steadfast gentleness, as if there were a kindness that flowed from them, reassuring, beautiful.

Even while he reveled at the sight, Gumshoe found his large hand caressing her temple, and then he couldn't wait anymore, and his palm was on the back of her head, and then his lips were on hers, the cool springtime air gone and replaced with the warmth of her mouth, tasting like spun sugary sweetness.

He opened his eyes and his free hand touched the skin of her face, and realized he had never before had a first kiss with a girl he loved. He knew she knew how he felt too.

His unspoken love was in the kiss itself.

When they parted, he smiled bashfully, and whispered, "Wow," and then she laughed and pulled him back toward her.

This time, there was no thought, no word. Maggey simply found her eyes closing again as his soft lips met hers once more. Her heart pounded in her chest while his hand found its way into her hair. She kissed him with every drop of emotion that had pooled within her since, since she couldn't even remember when! She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, and he pulled her closer to him.

Luck or misfortune be damned.

 _Dick Gumshoe, I'd rather have bad times with you, than good times with someone else. I'd rather be beside you in a storm, than safe and warm by myself. I'd rather have hard times together, than to have it easy apart. I'd rather have the one who holds my heart._

 _ **End Flashback**_

* * *

"And she never brought up her bad luck again!" Gumshoe finished merrily, smiling widely as he concluded the tale.

" _Only_ you two…" Edgeworth declared, who was now practically rubbing a hole into his temple. "Could have an unspoken avowal of love exchanged for the first time – while one of you had _dried blood on their face_ and the other one had just had an emotional breakdown!"

"Quit raining on their parade, Edgeworth!" Phoenix admonished his friend. "I think their courtship has actually been really cute!"

"You _would,_ oh _Trite_ one!" The prosecutor grumbled disgustedly. "Although I suppose if I _were_ big on romantic sentiment, I'd agree that, scattered within some of the more cringe-worthy details, all these _against all odds_ moments have the makings of a touching love story!"

"We've had such a bumpy road on our path to trying to be together!" Gumshoe sighed morosely and slumped in his seat. "I'd always hoped our love would shelter us both from the storm of misfortune that's often plagued us, but …now you guys see you see why I'm freaking out now about her unexpectedly winding up here? What if the worst _does_ happen – not to _me_ , like she'd always feared, but to _her_? What if…"

"Dick Gumshoe?" A woman's voice called just then.

"That's me!" The big man bolted out of his chair and sprinted up to the nurse who'd entered the visitor's lounge, and began rambling nervously. " _I'm_ Detective Gumtree! Er, Suede Shoes! I mean…"

"This is Detective Gumshoe," Phoenix cut in, smiling at the woman in white cap and uniform and giving his friend a little shove as the nurse nodded brusquely and began walking away, obviously expecting to be followed.

"Come with me," she instructed when it seemed Gumshoe was content to remain cemented in place. "Mrs. Gumshoe has been asking for you."

"She has?" That got his feet moving. "Is she – is she gonna be OK?"

The nurse studied his pensive face and fearful eyes, and her expression softened.

"Even though it was a slightly complicated breech delivery, and the baby came about 6 weeks early, your wife is doing _fine_ , Detective," she said gently, ushering him into the maternity room where a drowsy Maggey was sitting upright in the bed, a tiny blanketed bundle cradled against her breast. "And your son as well."

The nurse silently excused herself from the room to offer them privacy as the visibly relieved man walked up to the bed.

"We did it, Dick," Maggey whispered, a tired but loving smile on her face. "Josh is finally here."

Gumshoe swallowed the lump of emotion in his throat as he placed a tender kiss on his wife's lips, then leaned down and gently dropped another peck on the apple-sized head of the sleeping infant in her arms, his chest ready to burst with unmitigated joy.

"Welcome, little man." A lone tear rolled down his cheek. "We've been waiting for you."


	7. Don't You Forget About Me

_Mr. Coffee: And here we have the part one of a two-part Klema drabble (be warned of SOJ spoilers!) which is dedicated to a really nice gal, Sylviidae._

 _p.s. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Either way, I suggest you wear protection in case of flying Snackoos…_

* * *

 **Don't You Forget About Me**

May 21, 2028

As an esteemed member of the LAPD, the normally headstrong but levelheaded Ema Skye was _not_ typically the jumpy sort.

However, seeing as she'd thought she was all alone in the Criminal Affairs Department, given that it was very well past midnight, the sudden thunderous roar from her doorway caused the former homicide detective to freeze in the act of cleaning out her desk drawers and nearly jump out of her skin.

"Exactly _wann zur Hölle_ were you planning on letting me know you were leaving the country, _Fräulein_ Detective?"

" _Gah_!"

A startled shriek escaped the recently promoted forensic investigator at the sound of the unforeseen visitor looming at the entrance of her office, while the files and papers she'd been organizing into neat piles slid listlessly from her fingertips and scattered to the floor.

Even more unexpected than his impromptu appearance was the clearly palpable aura of aggravated disapproval marring the normally cheery disposition of her _very_ soon-to-be former boss, Klavier Gavin.

"Good evening, Prosecutor Gavin." Ema struggled to keep her voice level and uncomfortably turned away from those accusing azure orbs. "You startled me. I figured you would've long since gone home for the evening. I – I certainly didn't expect to see you at this ungodly hour."

In spite of her outward calm, a feeling of mounting dread washed over her as she saw the cloudy expression on his normally sunny mien darkening even further as he strode over to her.

"I demand an explanation, Detective Skye!" The German man slammed a heavy fist down on the _bureau. "Why was I not notified about this?"_

 _Detective_ _Skye_. Crap-baskets! He rarely ever called her anything but _Fräulein_ _Detective –_ proof that he was more infuriated about being kept in the dark regarding her pending departure than she had initially anticipated.

The dark scowl on his handsome face was now being accompanied by a baleful glare that could've put holes through a brick wall. _Yikes_! Ema hadn't seen him look at _this_ worked up since the time she'd busted his chops for using women's shampoo as the secret behind his such lustrous, satiny locks!

 _Cheese and rice, what we have here is the exact reason I've been dreading this obviously inevitable moment! Heck, I even hoped I could forgo it **entirely!**_

Although she no longer openly loathed the man she'd once held responsible for getting her dear friend Phoenix Wright disbarred, it didn't mean she was a huge _fan_ of his either! Up until the defense attorney had gotten his name cleared of the false forgery charges, the prosecutor and policewoman had had an acrimonious relationship very similar to oil and water – with a side of _venom_.

Admittedly, they'd reached a cordial, _almost_ friendly, working relationship ever since the blue attorney had regained his badge, but they were hardly best friends. Sure, the fop was a decent prosecutor and generally affable human being, but he was also a smarmy, condescending Casanova who was also _way_ too pulchritudinous for his own good!

While these less than desirable supervisor qualities weren't what Ema thought she'd ever hate enough to abdicate her position, she'd fundamentally decided she could very well do without them nevertheless. This was _exactly_ why she'd agreed to accept the overseas assignment in The Kingdom of Khura'in working alongside Nahyuta Sadmahdi!

While "Prosecutor Flutter" was a trifle overly self-righteous, preachy _and_ hard to read, (she figured that was par for course, what with being a monk!), the soft-spoken and ever-polite attorney seemed to sincerely respect her work ethics, as well as appreciate her talents as a forensic investigator.

This was a far cry from Klavier, who'd never ceased to make her feel like he deemed her little more than just pretty face, or worse, his source of personal amusement! The idea of being in a working environment with a man who _didn't_ make her teeth grind or her blood boil ( _or_ her temperature to rise, but that was a likely side effect of suffering extended periods in the incorrigibly flirtatious fop's presence!) had seemed like a dream come true!

Plus, she was good friends with Apollo, so the chance to help him and the Royal Regent rebuild the Asian country's legal system had seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime.

That being said, Ema _supposed_ she could apprehend why the quondam rock star might be a tad miffed his underling hadn't seen fit to let him know she'd no longer be working under him – because she'd chosen to leave the country for an imponderable period of time!

Hence the _semi murderous_ expression she was now being subjected to!

"I left the prosecutor's office _hours_ ago." Klavier was evidently straining to keep his voice from quaking with anger. "I'd decided to accept _Fräulein_ Wright's invitation to see her latest magical act this evening. This was the grand premiere of _Fräulein_ Cykes debuting as her assistant, since _Herr_ Forehead decided to stay back halfway across the world."

"Ah yes, Trucy's new magic show." The science enthusiast forced a smile eager for the chance to change the subject. "I'm not sure how Athena feels about being her new onstage sidekick, but with Apollo gone, I can't see how she has much of a choice! Maybe _this_ will be the distraction she needs from the heartache of having him take leave from the Wright Anything Agency."

The man Princess Rayfa had dubbed 'Drill Head' seemed utterly mystified by her reference to the 'Putrid Yolk', so Ema felt inclined to elaborate.

"Come on! _How_ could you miss the undeniable sparks between the yellow and red attorney? It's _so_ obvious Athena has the _hugest_ crush on Apollo! You should have seen the green-eyed monster surfacing with that ginger when she met me. She very hopefully inquired – right in front of me! – if Apollo and I were _cousins_! I could practically hear the girl holding her breath while clearly _praying_ he'd answer affirmatively to the query!"

Her eyes twinkled with mirth.

"Anyway, my JusticeCykes shipping aside, how was Trucy's performance?"

"I was at the same table as _Herr_ Wright, which meant front row seats to witness all the excitement." A slight smile tugged at his lips at the memory. "Therefore, I had a prime view to the on-stage spectacle! I do believe the poor titian-haired sidekick was authentically fearful for her _life_ when she backflipped through that ring of fire while holding a candle in her mouth! If that was feigned terror, then she has the makings of a _great_ stage actress!"

"Those crazy kids!" Ema snickered, this time with authentic merriment. "Whatever will the little magician think of next? Probably shoot Big Red out as a human cannonball or some sort of guillotine stunt, I bet!"

She'd honestly expected him to laugh and make some sort of witty quip, but a quick glance at the hard glint in his eye indicated that in spite of her efforts, Klavier wasn't about to be sidetracked this time.

"Aside from the legendary defense attorney, whose statue has him immortalized alongside my own at Themis Academy, I also had the pleasure of sitting next to _Herr_ Wright's _hübsche Freundin._ "

" _Pretty girlfriend_ – you mean _Maya_?"

"I see you immediately know of whom I speak! _Ja_ , I meant _Fräulein_ Fey! Those two are so _obviously_ swains, they don't even bother denying it anymore!"

"Whatever tipped you off they're more than just friends?" She teased. "Did you try hitting on Maya like you do _everyone_ else, and have Mr. Wright do the whole possessive _arm around her shoulder routine_ while giving you a warning death-glare?"

" _Ja_ to both!" Klavier grinned impishly and gave a mock shudder. " _Achtung baby!_ The mild-mannered lawyer can be downright _scary_ when it comes to his _Frau_! If looks could kill, I swear I'd be shark bait!"

"I wish I'd been there to see Mr. Wright successfully threatening you into behaving yourself without having to say a word!" Ema tittered. "I wonder how _his_ glower compares to Mr. Edgeworth's infamously directed icy shards!"

"Speaking of _Herr_ Bangs…" The blond man's jesting mood sharply faded as he eyed her pointedly. "He was also present this evening. And sitting with us, as well."

She felt a knot forming in her gut upon hearing this revelation.

"I see you've caught on!" Klavier drawled insolently. "Indeed, the Chief Prosecutor was quite surprised he and I hadn't yet discussed who my _new_ _replacement Detective partner_ would be… considering your _flight to Khura'in is_ _tomorrow morning!"_

Ema dropped her eyes, trying not to cringe at the accusatory tone now being directed at her.

"It is now _May 21_." His narrowed eyes bored relentlessly into hers. "You, _Herr_ Wright and company all flew back from Asia _three_ nights ago. I have crossed your path multiple times since your return, _Fräulein_ Detective – yet you still didn't see fit to have mentioned this _trifling detail_ to me whatsoever? Instead, I had to hear about this from _Herr_ Edgeworth?"

"I only came back to LA to collect my things, and have been busily preparing for my pending transfer, which presently stands to be for an undetermined time." The brunette nervously licked her lips. "I'm sorry if you're upset by the revelation of my departure."

"How _else_ did you think I was going to react?" He demanded. "Did you envision me clicking my heels together with _glee_ upon the discovery that I was losing my steady Detective partner of the last two years?" "

"It's not like I thought you'd throw a celebration at the news, Prosecutor Gavin! Although, to be honest, I – I didn't think my decision would affect you much at all! You and I – we're hardly close."

"That's been all _your_ doing – not _mine_! Every effort I've made to extend an olive branch against your previous contempt for me and bridge the gap of formality between us has been never reciprocated but brutally rebuffed!"

"That's not true!"

"Really? I tried to give you imported flavor Snackoos for Valentine's Day, and you used them for _target practice_ on me! And this was still _after_ the time you sent an enormous _cactus_ to my office for my birthday – since in spite of my best efforts, you obviously see me as nothing more than a _gigantic prick_!"

The resentment drained from him then, and Klavier suddenly looked vulnerable and dejected, like a lost little boy who was losing his best friend.

"Even more devastating than learning the news _from_ _my boss_ was hearing _Herr_ Wright's lover blurt out that you deem Prosecutor Elsa as the lesser of two evils, and how eager you were to finally ' _get away from that grating, bling-loving Europhile'_!"

Ema felt a lump forming in her throat and a burning sensation forming behind her lids, never before feeling so divided.

One half of her wanted to shove a sock into _Phoenix Wright's ginormous mouth_ for relaying what she'd assumed was _a confidential outburst_ to his equally loose-lipped girlfriend! The _other_ half was barely fighting the inexplicable urge to burst into tears at how genuinely wounded Klavier evidently was. Tears of guilt, regret – and something else she just couldn't admit right now. To herself _or_ him.

Truth be told, if she was _finally_ ready to be honest with herself – _this_ – right here, was the true reason she hadn't wanted to let him know she was leaving. She hadn't wanted to say goodbye – hell, she _still_ didn't!

But her flight was in eight hours. She didn't have a choice anymore. It was time for the cowardly copout – yet _mostly_ true admission.

"Since I had already gotten clearance for my transfer from Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth, I figured _he_ would've informed you about the news sooner. I'm sorry that wasn't the case."

"After all these years of you mocking me for being overly flashy, vain and epicene – coupled with asinine allegations of getting _eyelash tints_ and _pedicures,_ it nonetheless wasn't the final insult! _Nein_ , what's _most_ preposterous is in the end, someone even _more_ effeminate and man-pretty than _me_ was what made you choose to take off like a thief in the night!"

Klavier didn't even try to mask the bitterness in his tone.

"I know you always thought me as nothing more than a shallow skirt-chaser who'd hit on anything with two legs and spewed non-stop false flattery, but my perceived flirtations were always intended to be innocuous. I meant no harm by it, least of all with _you_. I never knew things had gotten so awful between us that it'd be enough to send you running across the world to get away from me."

Ema's guilt was now gnawing away so steadily in her gut, it was nearly painful. This far surpassed her worst nightmares. She'd expected Klavier to maybe nurse a broken _ego_ for not being first in the loop to know about his subordinate's decisions. She would never have ever fathomed he would be downright _heartbroken_. There was no other way to describe his reaction.

"How can this man who barely knows you, be so taken by your skills he's to the point where he wants you to emigrate?" He demanded harshly, his breathing now ragged as he loomed over her, so they now stood barely a foot apart. "You _do_ realize _Khura'in Galadriel_ is making this request under the _guise_ of admiring your work? That his true ulterior motive for whisking you away across the globe is because he has _designs_ on you, don't you, _Fräulein_?"

Ema's remorse died instantly, replaced by blinding fury in its stead.

" _Grrr_! Your presumptuousness is _unbelievable, you glimmerous fop_!"

Klavier drew back, startled by her sudden wrath as sparks were now flying out of the petite spitfire's green eyes.

"You insufferable, chauvinistic _man-whore_!" A flying Snackoo ricocheted off his forehead. "Do you really fail to see how insulting it is to hear you think the only reason any man would ever want me around is that he wants me in his bed?"

She stood up on her tiptoes so the two were practically nose to nose while she continued to address him with scornful indignation.

"Moreover, how _dare_ you believe every man out there is a _lascivious wolf in sheep's clothing_ just like _you_? Where do you get the _audacity_ to slander the name of a man you've never even met, who up until now, _unlike a certain someone_ , has been nothing but a complete gentleman?"

"You're fooling only yourself if you fail to see a gentleman is naught more than a patient wolf!"

" _Argh_!"

Without thinking, Ema balled up her hand into a tiny fist and pummeled it against his granite pec.

"For your kind information, I don't have what it takes to make Prosecutor Sadmadhi's butterflies flutter! He's got some sort of poorly veiled _,_ clandestine romance going on with Prosecutor Blackquill!"

" _What_?!" Klavier's jaw dropped.

"You heard me! He's already booked a ticket for _Simey_ to come see him over in Asia! FYI, the Twisted Samurai is the one who came up with the pet name _Prosecutor Sad Monk_. In turn, _he_ refers to Simon as _Reverse Panda_. It's lusty legal foreplay at its finest!"

She scowled darkly.

"Trust me, if the monk ever threatens _Blackquill_ with a sermon, his session of _crying out to The Holy Mother_ will be very different capacity than the tediously sanctimonious, eight-hour one _I_ was subjected to! So _take that_!"

Klavier caught her other infuriated fist before it made contact with his other pectoral. Given their vast size difference, the unexpected blow from the tiny policewoman should've been the equivalent of a fly against an elephant. However, the feisty Detective had been trained in combat, and he had no desire to have her _continuously_ hitting on him in _this_ context!

"I – I apologize, _Fräulein_ ," he said humbly. "I never meant to insult you with my admittedly jealous speculations about intentions. I can't help it if I think every man who laid eyes on you sees you the way _I_ do."

"Someone to play unwitting court jester whenever you need a laugh in court and withhold evidence, leaving me to testify with egg on my face?" She raged, her eyes now the color of a stormy sea. "Or worse – another potential conquest to add to your immeasurable bedpost notches, because if _sex were fast food, you'd have a gold arch over your head_! I'm sure you'll get _over_ the loss of your partner by getting _under_ some die-hard Gavinners groupie faster than you can say 'I'm _lovin' it'! "_

"Now it's _your_ turn to be jealous, _ja_?" He derided, thinking how adorable Ema was she got riled up, despite the seriousness of the situation. "You've drawn the worst conclusions about me, simply because I enjoy showering attention on the ladies? I don't even always _try_ to flirt. I just _talk_. It's not _my_ fault everything that comes out of my mouth is smoother than the cream cheese spread on your bagel!"

"Of all the _nerve_!" Ema was seeing red now. "Just shut-up, fop!"

"Come to think of it," he went on smugly, undaunted by her ire, "you always _did_ complain about my fangirls clamoring about and destroying your crime scenes! Was it because _you_ were vying for my distracted attentions as well?"

"Don't flatter yourself, you arrogant, narcissistic … _fop_! I have _never_ seen you as anything more than a despicable, womanizing _arschloch_!" She was in full-blown shouting mode now, her chest heaving with rage. "Screw you, Klavier Gavin! I'd take a Pious Priest over a Playboy Prosecutor _any_ damn day of the week! In fact, I can't _wait_ to get the hell away from you!"

Klavier had reached the end of his rope at this point, and could only think of _one_ way to stop her from hurling another painful slur or pummel.

He tightened his hold on Ema's pinned wrists, pulling her towards him so abruptly, her breasts collided with his chest. The air whooshed out of her lungs at the stunning feel of hard, male musculature and her mouth dropped in an _O_ of astonishment at the unprepared moment of contact.

That was when he swiftly captured those angry, unprepared lips in a fierce, demanding kiss.

Although she stubbornly refused to initially respond, he felt the rigidity leaving her; and as soon as it did, he showed her just how badly he wanted it. His arms went around her, crushing her to him, his mouth moving against hers with hungry urgency, his hands shifting possessively over her spine and hips, fitting and molding her against him.

Her mouth was smooth and sweet, like the tender inside of a freshly peeled fruit. He should have guessed that her tough exterior and acidic tongue would harbor such gentleness. Nothing with Ema Skye was as it initially appeared.

His heated embrace made her knees weaken, tripled her pulse rate and robbed her of any and all thought. By the time he finally raised his head to catch his breath, she was too shaken to do anything except stare up dazedly at him.

"Why did you do that?" Her cadence was so low, it was almost a whisper.

He attempted a casual shrug, now striving to appear less combative and more nonchalant to mask the wild beating of his still pounding heart. "Because I wanted to."

Ema just gaped at him for a moment, unable to believe that he could have such a simple answer to what was, for all its simple phrasing, such a complicated question. Finally, she blurted out, "But you can't have."

A wicked grin. "But I did."

"But you don't even _like_ me!"

"So you've convinced yourself," he allowed, biting back a smirk.

"And _I_ don't like _you_!"

"So you've been demonstrating for the past two years," he replied smoothly, arching a brow. "I'll have to take your word for it, since it wasn't particularly apparent a few seconds ago."

"You – completely blindsided me." She placed a trembling hand against her heart, which was thudding inside her chest. "One minute, I was yelling at you, and the next you stole the air from my lungs – _literally_ taking my breath away."

"I don't just want to take your breath away, _Fräulein_ Detective." He cupped her delicate chin in his palm while he traced a finger over her cheekbone, and her eyes involuntarily closed at the splendor of his surprisingly gentle touch. "I want to rip it from your mouth and keep it locked away between my teeth. You can only have it back if you kiss me again."

Wordlessly, as having a mind of their own, her fingertips grasped tightly onto his strong forearms, whether to push him away or draw him closer was unclear. She appeared to be swaying slightly, although he couldn't tell if it was from his words or their propinquity.

Klavier drew her closer, and Ema's caressing hands slid up his arms as she pressed herself deeper into him. His mouth hovered above hers again, and she felt herself being helplessly drawn into his magnetic spell, her lips parting in invitation.

She let out a moan as he bent his head and took her soft lips again, this time in a slow, compelling kiss, sensually molding and shaping her lips to his. She curled her arms around his waist, hooking her leg over his calf. She did not cling, nor devour, but met him head on, an equal exchange of ardor and energy.

It was a kiss unlike any other. With a woman unlike any other.

Another moan, only this one came from him.

She had the most perfect lips Klavier had ever tasted in his entire life.

Stunned at the display of emotion she wrung from him, he dragged his mouth from hers, drawing an uneven breath and trying to clear his head, just as, with the last of her senses, Ema struggled to free herself from him.

" _Don't!_ " She was completely uncaring about the two teardrops of uncertainty rolling down her cheeks. "Please! I – I can't let you do this to me!"

"Do _what_ to you?" His hold loosened a tad, yet he was reluctant to release her from his embrace just yet. "Why can't you just admit you want me as much as I've always wanted you, and simply enjoy the consequences?"

"All right," she said wretchedly, "You _win_. I want you ... I admit it!" She saw the brief victorious gleam in his eyes, and her chin lifted. "When I was eight years old, I also wanted a monkey I saw in a pet store."

The triumphant gleam faded.

" _And_?" The prosecutor sighed exasperatedly, letting go of her at last.

"And unfortunately I _got_ him!" Ema wailed plaintively. "As my sole caregiver after we lost our parents, Lana spoiled me somewhat. She felt so remiss she couldn't spend more time with her baby sister that she convinced herself a primate would be a suitable companion for me! Instead, Daisy _bit_ me, and I had to have twelve stitches in my leg!"

"I imagine he bit you for naming him _Daisy_!" Klavier was torn between laughter and frustration. "But what the hell does that have to do with _us_?"

" _Everything_!" She cried, wrenching free from the cage of his arms. "It's proof that ultimately, I don't know _anything_! About people, or life, or what's good for me or bad for me, in the long run!"

"So you think _I'm_ bad for you," he stated flatly, trying to squelch the pang her words had caused him. "Is that it?"

She turned and slowly walked towards the door, purposely keeping her back to him so he wouldn't see the impatient wiping away of tears on the sleeve of her lab coat before she turned to face him from the doorway.

"I don't know. How _could_ I when I have absolutely _nothing_ to compare you to? I've lived my whole life in with my nose buried in books, then in European science lab, and then, once I graduated, I've been chained to this precinct! Why do you think a part of me was so eager to leap at this chance to expand my horizons? It's the same part of me that won't let me cancel that plane ticket, even though my heart is screaming at me to do just that!"

"You mean, you're _still_ going to leave?" He asked numbly, not wanting to believe this was actually happening. "But what about _us_?"

"I _have_ to." Ema's eyes were pleading for him to understand. "Maybe there's a universe where I'm the right person for you. Where I adore every nice thing you did for me without ever resenting you. A universe where you actually end up with someone who appreciates you. Where no one lives in fear of becoming a doormat."

She pressed her lips together to stop them from trembling. She would _not_ break down and cry – not in front of this _blasted_ man who'd somehow gotten _this_ far past her defenses already!

"Where both of us can shed our baggage and curiosity and issues. A universe where we're happy without wondering if that happiness is some messed-up building-block game ready to topple at the slightest quiver. A universe where we're comfortable and sure. Where I don't second guess everything and I'm not afraid of commitment and of the future and of love. Maybe there's a universe without all the noise in my head and the pride that makes me so fiercely independent and the coldness in my heart that I can turn on and off like a security fence."

Dismal emerald orbs met lachrymose cerulean ones.

"Riddle me this, Klavier: how can I ever know _anything_ about life, about this world, unless I go out and _see_ more of it, and find out who I really am? Can _you_ remember who _you_ were, before the world told you who you _should_ be?"

"You win, Ema. No more objections from me."

He moved over to where her downcast form remained in the doorway, arms wrapped around her waist in a protective gesture, and wordlessly wrapped an arm around her in a comforting hug. Then, with his free hand, he gently wiped away the lone stray tear trickling down her face with his thumb. Ema didn't pull away but kept one palm braced against his chest, in order to prevent herself from melting into his arms once more.

"I discovered who I was meant to be upon revisiting Europe last year to become an international prosecutor. That was when I realized the legal world, not music, held my true passions. Unlike you, I _was_ able to find myself, since I've been fortunate enough to have traveled the globe and experienced life and all it has to offer. That's why I won't stand in your way, and also why I can say _this_ to you, with my whole heart."

Lifting his head, he gazed down at her lovely face, noting the telltale flush on her cheeks, the soft confusion in her searching teal orbs, and the delicate hand she'd forgotten was resting against his chest. Keeping his own hand splayed against her lower back, he tortured himself by holding her pressed against him for as long as she would allow, all the while trying to commit the warmth of her curves against his form to memory.

"You go wherever you need to go, and do whatever you need to do. Just know that whenever you're ready to come back, I'll be here. I may have been a _Mann Hure_ , as you claimed, but having _been there, done that_ consequently means that I _know_ what's out there."

He tenderly slid his knuckles against her cheek.

"I'm well aware of exactly what kind of people are worth having around, along with the ones who are worth pining for. All I ask in return is that if you ever find a moment … spare a thought for me."

Klavier's eyes were misty as he tenderly brushed his lips against hers in one last bittersweet kiss.

"That's why I am able to vow this to you, Ema Skye: _you're_ the kind of experience most men wait lifetimes for."

* * *

September 30, 2028

Like all the guests present for the wedding reception of newlyweds Sorin Sprocket and Ellen Wyatt, Ema certainly felt as like she was walking on a cloud. That soaring airship seriously made the phrase "match made in heaven" seem almost _literal_!

The science lover was having a grand time as she and her friends joined the new bride and groom for another round of boogying.

Presently, she was enjoying being twirled by the ever graceful Miles Edgeworth. Who'd have thought the stern, austere lawyer could tear up the dance floor like there was no tomorrow?

As Ema shimmied to "Dancing on the Ceiling," she barely stifled a giggle as the two spun past their table and overheard the phone conversation of the yellow attorney, who was giving her worn out dancing feet a break.

"That jerk-face totally swiped the bride's flowers right from under our noses, Apollo!" Athena was presently griping to her _'no he's so not my long-distance boyfriend!'_ via web chat. "Boy, is that _culo grande_ lucky he had a running head start, because if _I'd_ gotten my hands on him…"

"Indeed, it was quite benevolent of you girls not to _throttle_ the floral usurper!" Edgeworth remarked as he led Ema into a flourishing finale dip. "I had no idea the Butz could sprint at an Olympic gold level when push came to shove!"

" _I'd_ have loved to shove _his_ butt right off this airborne blimp!" Grumbled Maya, who'd been shaking her moneymaker beside the Detective and Chief Prosecutor with the awkwardly shuffling Phoenix. "What a gyp!"

"Actually, I was kinda surprised _you_ lined up to catch the bouquet, Ema," the blue attorney remarked. "After all these years, I had no idea you were such a die-hard romantic sort!"

"I guess it's a case of wedding fever on my part, Mr. Wright." The brunette shrugged with deliberate insouciance in response and purposely averted her view away from the live band on stage. "All the other girls were going for the toss… I just figured, _when in Rome_ , you know?"

As soon as the cover to the Lionel Richie 80's hit ended, Maya announced Edgeworth would be her partner for the next number, citing that she needed to give her poor, abused toes a minibreak from her boyfriend's two left feet!

Phoenix chuckled good-naturedly as he reached out to take his friend's hand in preparation for the next set.

"Maya has her moments of morphing from _burger queen_ to _drama queen_ at the drop of a hat! I swear, I've only stepped on _one_ of her toes a maximum of _two_ times all night! I am objecting to baseless testimony that if she keeps dancing with me all night, I will have smashed _all_ the bones in her foot in the manner of Godzilla conquering Tokyo!"

Noting the band still hadn't resumed their playing, Maya had opted to temporarily busy herself at the snack table, while Edgeworth chatted with Athena back at their table, so the Ace Attorney and Lady Gumshoe stood off to the side of the dance floor and kept chatting.

"Nevertheless, I hope you don't mind giving me the next dance – whenever the music recommences, Ema. While I can't promise to _bust a move_ like Fred Astaire reincarnated did, I _can_ swear that _your_ feet will be in less danger of being squashed than Maya's, since _you're_ not wearing open-toed shoes!"

"It's no problem, Mr. Wright," Ema responded absently, trying not to visibly crane her neck to see if the band had returned back to the stage just yet. It appeared the wedding singer was taking _quite_ the extended break since the last song! "I'm just happy to be distracted – er, I mean, _dancing_."

" _When in Rome_ , you said?" The spiky-haired man followed her stare towards the conspicuously empty lead microphone and shot her knowing look. "I don't suppose your moment of wedding fever had anything at all to do with the _stage talent_ for this festive event?"

"Tonight's theme song should have been "It's a Small World After All _"_ since my formerly _retired rock star_ ex-boss coincidentally decided he's going to _occasionally_ still perform as a solo artist! Not just limited to special events hosted by his own _alma mater,_ but at the occasional rich celebrity nuptials!"

Ema sighed ruefully.

"I guess it's only fitting his ex-subordinate only found out about _Herr_ Gavin's solo singing career because she _happened_ to be at the wedding where he was playing tonight! He probably thinks I deserve to be kept out of the loop, since _he_ missed the memo that I'd be returning to Khura'in back in the spring!"

"Well, they do say what's good for the goose is good for the gander, so no point in being a hypocrite! So, have you spoken to Klavier at all since you arrived here in LA?"

She shook her head, flushing guiltily of the reproving look he gave her.

"Why not?" Phoenix pressed. "It's been almost two weeks that you've been back now, Ema. Why wouldn't you let him know?"

"Thanks to the terrific job Mr. Edgeworth did of _taking out the trash_ amongst the previously corrupt lot in the DA office, the Prosecutor's Office is a pretty small skeleton staff by now, so word travels fast. I'm positive word got back to Prosecutor Gavin about my return."

"Had you been waiting for _him_ to be the first to contact _you_?"

"Not really. I figured I would get around to it eventually, but I was really busy helping you and Mr. Edgeworth investigate the whole wedding/time traveler murder scene, remember? It would have been foolish for me to expect Prosecutor Gavin to contact me, when social convention would dictate since _I'm_ the one who left– and almost without even saying goodbye – _I_ also should've been the one to let him know I was back."

"Yet you _didn't_." Phoenix peered searchingly into her downcast visage. "Ema, the case we all worked on was wrapped up on the 23rd! You've had a _week_ since then to go see Prosecutor Gavin – who, based on what you told me from your last encounter, you would have gotten the privilege of now addressing as _Klavier_! What's holding you back?"

"It's been a long time since I last saw him." Ema chose her words carefully. "I know I'd confided in you about the situation between us when I left, but I have no idea where he and I stand anymore."

"It was merely four months ago Klavier pretty much promised he'd wait for you if you wanted to spread your wings and fly," Phoenix reminded her quietly. "Maya and I hadn't seen each other for _two years_ when she was training in Asia, and we still managed to keep _our_ love alive, and look at her now! A quarter year back into our relationship, that crazy woman's trying to catch wedding bouquets! No pressure on me _whatsoever_ , right?"

"It's not the same. You were not only _together_ during the seven years you were disbarred, but also kept in touch while Maya was away in Khura'in. Klavier and I – we didn't do that."

"At _all_?" Phoenix gawked at her in disbelief. "I don't understand… you said you hadn't met anyone else while overseas, so why the radio silence? You don't strike me as someone who'd purposely play games and ignore the person she cared about most, attempting to milk that whole ' _absence makes the heart grow fonder'_ bit in hopes he'd allegedly miss her more!"

"Nothing like that." Ema shook her head. "I didn't try to stay in touch while I was away in Asia because our situation was nothing like yours. At least you and Maya, had some sort of _foundation_ before you were separated, whereas I spent a year convincing myself I _hated_ Prosec – I mean, _Klavier_ – and thinking _he_ felt nothing for me other than a _musement_! Then it was a case of too little, too late, because by the time we realized there'd been _something_ simmering below the antagonistic surface, it was time for me to go spread those wings of mine and jet away halfway across the globe."

"If two people are meant to be together, distance doesn't matter, Ema," Phoenix insisted staunchly. "It worked out for me and Maya, and although they're fooling nobody with their relationship denial, I really think it will for Apollo and Athena too. Even with some hardships, it'll all be worth it in the end. Can you really not allow yourself to have just a little bit of faith in you and Klavier?"

"It's nice to see your undying belief in the positive side of things isn't just limited to your clients, Mr. Wright." Ema smiled fondly at him. "I guess I'm more cynical than you are. Four months is a very long time in _rock star years_ \- it's like dog years in equivalency! Translation – a _very long time_ to be left hanging, unsure if there's a point in remaining _faithful_ and _loyal_ to someone you have a dubious chance of a future with, since you don't know if they're ever coming back."

" _Are_ you back for the long haul?" He asked hopefully. "Or am I going to lose you to Khura'in like I did Apollo? I've kind of gotten used to having my old friend back again."

"I don't know." Ema's gaze was downcast. "I _want_ to be back for good. I – I guess I just want a good reason to stay. In the end, it's just cowardice, Mr. Wright. I've been so afraid that if I talk to Klavier, I'll find out he's moved on and that there's no longer anything to come back to."

Saddened emerald eyes met sympathetic sapphire ones.

"I don't know if I could handle it if my qualms were spot-on, and that _out of sight_ meant _out of mind_ for Klavier. Because for me … that was never the case. He doesn't know that when I went off to Khura'in, I left my heart here, with him."

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am back and ready to rock!"

Klavier had now returned to the stage.

"This last song of the night goes out to the happy bride and groom. They say _'the course of true love never did run smooth_.' Ellen and Sorin most definitely, have had their share of rocky roads, and at some points, I'm sure they questioned what the future held for them! But all they _did_ know in the end was that they _never_ stopped loving each other."

The blond Adonis was flashing his million-dollar smile at the expectant guests.

"This one's a duet, so I'm going to need a vocalist to join me up here! Will the gorgeous _Fräulein_ in the turquoise dress, who's wearing her trademark pink sunglasses on top of her head please come and join me up at the microphone?"

Out of nowhere, a spotlight shone directly down on the flabbergasted forensic investigator, who remained cemented into place, momentarily blinded to literally everything else surrounding her... except for the shit-eating grin of the musician now beckoning her to the stage.

 _Is this some petty act of revenge for keeping him in the dark for the **second** time?!_ She silently screamed, her eyes widening in panic. _What in Albert Einstein's name is going through his overly moussed brain?! Doesn't that idiot fop know I'm a **scientist** , not a **singer?!**_

 **TO BE CONTINUED….**


	8. Ain't Nobody

_Mr. Coffee: And here we have the thrilling conclusion to the Klema two-shot._

 _Speaking of two shots..._  
 _*grabs mike*_  
 _"In THIS corner we have the master of the Snackoo toss and disparaging nicknames, Detective Ema Skye..."_  
 _VS._  
 _"In THE OTHER corner, we have The Foppinator, the bling-loving Europhile, Klavier Gavin!"_

 _Let's see who comes out swinging...and the question that's on all of our minds...can the newly appointed forensic investigator actually SING?_

 _*DING DING*_

* * *

 **Ain't Nobody**

 **September 30, 2028**

Underneath the directed sweltering spotlight, the poleaxed policewoman could feel the heightening heat searing up her neck, towards her fair cheeks. Then the coloring made Ema blush harder until she was scarlet, roasting hot and briefly wondered if her face was _literally_ was on fire.

Never before had she felt so precipitously felt awkward, demure, and embarrassed all at once; even going as far as attempting to hide her rosy features behind her slim fingers. The brunette was self-consciously aware of the hundreds of eyes gawking expectantly – all eagerly waiting for a reaction, a response, like rabid, predatory beasts.

"The band and I aren't getting any _younger_ , _Fräulein_ Detective!" Singsonged Klavier, gleaming megawatt beam affixed in place. "Let's not keep the bride and groom waiting for their finale dance!"

At that moment, Ema was so mortified, she would've cheerfully throttled the German with his own microphone wire, right there on the spot! The _only_ thing preventing her from going through with the assassination was there were _far_ too many witnesses!

 _Drop dead, Gavin! I will_ _ **not**_ _subject myself to public ridicule for the sake of your amusement, even though_ _ **you**_ _may think I deserve it, you sadistic jerk-face! You can flash those blinding molars all you want trying to coax me up there, but I am flat-out refusing! And absolutely_ _ **nobody**_ _is going to make me do otherwise!_

She would have given _anything_ right then to somehow tune out the roar of metrical applause and encouraging whistles by the surrounding invitees, who'd all now joined Klavier's cajoling chanting of Ema's name, in attempts to urge her up to the platform.

 _" **Ema! Ema! Ema!"**_

 _Gnrrk! Shut the fop up!_

She was so adamant about her recalcitrant stance to remain _unmoving,_ she didn't initially grasp the disbelieving fact that she was nevertheless somehow coasting – _against her will!_ – right towards that stage!

Taking advantage of their friend's brief stupor, a surprisingly robust Athena and very resilient Maya – when had _she_ returned from stuffing her face at the snack table?! – had slithered up behind the forensic investigator. Both girls were presently shoving Ema's cemented, reluctant tootsies in the direction of the beaming musician, who was still beckoning to join him at the microphone.

 _Note to self!_ She thought frantically as the two sets of unyielding hands continued to propel Ema towards Klavier, despite her fruitless struggles to drag her feet. _Snackoo whip both of these meddlesome bitches into a_ _ **coma**_ _later – assuming I don't drop dead of mortification at the hands of the glimmerous fop first!_

The next thing Ema knew, she was given one final push up onto the podium, taking the last split second to shoot her intrusive _ex_ -friends a menacing glower as a warning of their pending fates. Rather than appearing pensive or apologetic though, Athena and Maya merely blew her a kiss, waved, and then disappeared back into the crowd, leaving her all alone next to the bearer of those dazzling pearly whites.

Klavier stretched out his hand and enclosed her trembling fingers in a warm clasp while guiding Ema into place beside him.

"You're a _dead_ man, Gavin!" She hissed out of the side of her mouth. Presently, his hand was still holding hers, his thumb rubbing across the top of her knuckles in an attempted soothing gesture, and she jerked away from the skin-tingling caressing. "How could you _do_ this to me? I'm a _scientist_ , not a _singer_!"

The Hollywood smile refused to budge.

"I've heard you belting out tunes to the radio in your office after hours, when you think nobody's listening!" He winked. "Believe me, you're more a _songbird_ than a _seagull_. What you need is a little bit more confidence in your more latent capabilities, _ja_?"

"Assuming I somehow manage to live this down, fop, what _you_ sorely need is a deserved _belting_ – _right in the kisser_!"

"I wouldn't risk spoiling a wedding by asking you to join me up here, had I _truly_ deemed your crooning skills to be lacking. However, should you happen to start lagging mid-song, I'll carry you, I _promise_."

The prosecutor was rewarded with the mother of all _"drop dead"_ expressions for this attempted reassurance.

" _Fräulein_ Detective, can't you trust me, just this _once_?" He'd had to lean down to whisper in her ear, the expression on his face, only inches from hers, was now more pleading than persuasive. " _Bitte_?"

The rest of her arguments died in her throat as his eyes peered searchingly into hers. It was the first time she'd ever really seen them _this_ up close and personal – ever.

 _That last night together, in my office, it was too dark to get a good look at those peepers before, but dagnabbit, those are some seriously hypnotic baby blues! Almost_ _ **sickeningly**_ _blue ... full-on Prince Charming, a field of cornflower, perfect, cloudless sky blue. Someone should name a crayon after this guy…_

"Fine." She gave a small, stiff nod of resignation, while simultaneously shooting him one final, murderous glare. "Let's just get this over with! But for your sake, it'd better at least be a song I actually _know_!"

Ellen and Sorin were already on the dance floor, wrapped blissfully in each other's arms as the band began to play the beginning bars. With one last wink at his involuntary duet partner, Klavier began, his voice every bit as soulful and poignant as the lyrics to the iconic love song.

 _Look at this face I know the years are showing_  
 _Look at this life I still don't know where it's going_  
 _I don't know much but I know I love you_  
 _That may be all I need to know_

Ema blinked in astonishment as she realized what ballad he'd chosen. Of _course_ , she knew _this_ song! It was "I Don't Know Much" by Aaron Neville and Linda Ronstadt – which had been Jake and Lana's wedding song. This fact was something she'd mentioned to Klavier all of _once_ , and only in passing, _ages_ ago.

Yet the prosecutor had remembered.

Her mouth was dry as she gripped the microphone and lifted it to her lips, knowing this was her cue. She fought to keep her voice from quaking as she joined him for the next section.

 _Look at these eyes they never see what matters_ _  
_ _Look at these dreams so beaten and so battered_

The blond man's voice was smooth and clear. Quiet yet powerful. Soothing, in a way. He was every bit the quintessential golden-throated nightingale, and while she knew one didn't normally call a guy's voice _beautiful_ , Klavier's truly was. There was no other way to describe it.

 _I don't know much_  
 _But I know I love you_ _  
_ _That may be all I need to know_

Taking her vocal cue from the slightly husky timbre of his voice, and never once straying her attentions from those cobalt orbs, she allowed that velvety baritone to carry them together in a stellar rendition which would have surely made the original artists proud.

 _So many questions still left unanswered_  
 _So much I've never broken through_  
 _And when I feel you near me, sometimes I see so clearly_  
 _The only truth I'll ever know is me and you_

It was the perfect song for two people who'd exchanged marital vows to honor and love one another for eternity. Nonetheless, even though she and Klavier didn't fit that bill in the least, Ema couldn't shake the crazy, nagging suspicion – or was it _wishful thinking_?! – the extra heartfelt emotion resonating from his crooning wasn't merely _performing_.

 _And when I feel you near me, sometimes I see so clearly_ _  
_ _The only truth I'll ever know is me and you_

Regardless of any hidden meaning or message intended for her, Klavier's voice was the promise of tomorrow. Unlike the noise pollution from his past so-called _rock music_ that she'd heard during his Gavinner days, _this_ serenade was heartrendingly beauteous. She wished that he would never, ever stop.

 _Look at this man so blessed with inspiration_  
 _Look at this soul_  
 _Still searching for salvation_  
 _I don't know much but I know I love you_  
 _That may be all I need to know_

Klavier's piercing stare never left hers as he continued with the last stanza, his flawless notes supporting her own softly sung melody. The complementary blend of their voices resonated like the high notes of angels, soaring up and over the clouds of that magical Sprocket Park Flying Chapel as they came to the closing verse.

 _I don't know much but I know I love you_  
 _That may be all I need to know_  
 _I don't know much but I know I love you_  
 _That may be all there is to know_

The resounding ovation when the song was over was something Klavier was well-accustomed to, but Ema certainly wasn't! She couldn't describe exactly how she was feeling. She hadn't expected to have felt so _alive_ – so _energized_ after performing. The hum in her veins didn't dissipate once she was off stage. In fact, it seemed to grow stronger, and her feet were lighter than air. She didn't even pose an objection as Klavier firmly took her hand and led her through the buzzing crowd in search of their friends.

Phoenix, Maya, Edgeworth, and Athena were standing to the side of the dance floor, all beaming effusively at the melodious duo.

"You two were _wundervoll!_ " Athena gushed, clasping her hands together against her shoulder. "I had no idea you were such a _lark_ , Detective Skye!"

"Neither did _I!_ " Phoenix marveled while the detective blushed and murmured her thanks. "Quite the gamble you took, luring the unsuspecting Ema up there like that, Prosecutor Gavin!"

"A purely spontaneous move on my part, _Herr_ Wright." Klavier boasted shamelessly. "Also, I should take this opportunity to say _danke_ to you again. It's all due to _you_ letting me know about this fine occasion that I got this prime opportunity to perform once again – and _improvise as necessary_!"

" _Thank_ him?" Ema's eyes widened as she took in Phoenix's sheepish expression. "Wait – Mr. Wright … it _wasn't_ a coincidence Prosecutor Gavin was the entertainment? _You_ were behind all this – yet never _said a word_?! Are you freaking _kidding_ me?!"

"It was sort of _my_ idea," Maya added quickly, taking note of the sudden flare-up in the policewoman's infuriated eyes. "Nick didn't _tell_ him so much as _we_ just happened to be talking _really loudly_ about the Sprocket wedding when we came to visit Miles at the prosecutor's office last week …"

"Knowing _full well_ Prosecutor Gavin was in the office next door, with his door open!" Edgeworth added wryly. "For the record, approaching Mr. Sprocket about being tonight's live performance– that was entirely _his_ own doing!"

"Oh please, don't try to exonerate yourself from the scheme, Edgeworth!" Phoenix scowled at his best friend. "You may as well fess up as to _how_ a certain singer got Sorin's personal contact information!"

Edgeworth reddened slightly but remained mum.

" _Gnwaah_! All three of you buttinskis had some serious _gall_ , collaborating behind my back like this!" Ema fumed, scowling at the trio, guilty-faced conspirators. "You are _all_ _... unbelievable_! Give me _one_ good reason why I shouldn't _minimally_ shoot _each_ of you in the foot, right here and now!"

"I imagine they were all hoping that a _gun holster_ wouldn't go with your formal evening ensemble," Klavier cut in smoothly, grabbing the livid luminol lover's elbow and graciously inclining his head at their friends while steering her to the exit. "I'll ensure _Fräulein_ Detective gets home safely. _Damen und Herren_ , I bid you _Guten Abend!"_

* * *

Straight from disembarking the aircraft, Klavier wordlessly ushered her to the parking lot, held open the passenger door to his silver sports car, and was now driving them – _somewhere_ – although she had no inkling as to _where_!

He didn't utter a peep or even turn on the stereo once they'd set off, so it was in total silence that Ema attempted to calm her vexation and mull over everything that'd just transpired for the next 10 minutes.

Glancing discreetly at his chiseled profile, she dug her fingernails into her palms and tried not to get her hopes up about what would happen next while she recalled her favorite parts of the evening.

The way those captivating blue orbs had never wavered from hers throughout their performance … she hated to admit it, but she'd _loved_ it. Heck, for all she knew, they could've been on her all night, but she'd been too busy trying to avert her gaze from the stage to take notice. Also, she'd been too paranoid, being in a room chock full of fetching women, all dressed to the nines, that he'd be checking _them_ out in the speculative assessment of who his 'lucky groupie' could be that night.

It was presently jarring how those same attentive eyes hadn't once even _remotely_ veered in her direction since they'd gotten into the vehicle.

So what now? She had no clue what to expect, mostly because they hadn't said _a word_ to one another in the last near half hour now. Moreover, they were getting close to the valley, in the outskirts of the city, near her residence.

 _What in Sam Hill is going on here?! Now that we're alone together, is he seriously going to drop his public Mr. Congeniality façade, taciturnly dump me at home, then take off like nothing had ever happened?!_

Watching his long, golden fingers on the steering wheel, she vividly recollected how warm they'd been against her skin when he'd taken her hand to help her get onto the stage, and then again when they'd exited the reception.

His touch had given her goose-bumps both times, and she was sorely disappointed that since they'd left the reception, he hadn't laid a finger on her. In fact, the aloof aura surrounding him practically screamed _touch-me-not,_ which was why she'd resisted the urge to touch his arm or even brush against him.

The tension had her wound so tight she was positive making another point of physical contact would release ... _something_. She was too afraid to find out what it was.

Or _was_ she?

She snuck another glance at him as he drove. He was chomping on a piece of gum and staring, almost angrily, out the windshield. The light of the moon shining onto his tanned visage through the windshield highlighted his prominent cheekbones and angular jaw, making him look devilishly handsome.

How Ema had lasted two years resisting the charms of this man was beyond her now. She could distinctly see why women turned into puddles of goo around him. Klavier Gavin was absolutely gorgeous. Sure, he was _man-pretty_ – but being in such close proximity, she had to, at last, admit he was also _über_ … _manly_.

There was no point denying it any longer. He exuded the kind of masculine virility that made her toes curl, her skin to tingle, and her pulse to race, just being within propinquity of him.

Now that she'd finally allowed herself to admit her attraction to him, she couldn't get over just how pleasing to the eye he was. That wasn't exactly a revelation. She'd known Klavier, in all his flaxen-haired, cobalt -eyed, Aryan glory, for _years_ and it was an established fact he was a physically perfect specimen who made women's panties drop like hot potatoes around him.

But _she'd_ never been attracted to him on a primal level…Or _had_ she?

These questions were driving her crazy. Even though she'd experienced the tender bliss of being in his embrace mere months ago, it'd been more _emotionally_ , rather than _physically,_ charged of an experience. At least, for _her_.

In her entire existence, Ema hadn't ever before felt this kind of _animal_ _magnetism_ for another man. Had never dreamed she'd be so wholly consumed at the notion of kissing Klavier Gavin again, now that she'd had the unforgettable taste of those delectable lips against hers.

And now that she'd allowed the thought into her mind, she couldn't _stop thinking_ about anything else!

"Take a picture, Detective Skye," he growled, still not looking at her. "It'll last longer."

" _What_?" Ema jumped slightly in her seat, startled by the uncustomary gruff tone.

"You're staring at me."

"I was thinking."

He cleared his throat. "About what?"

 _It occurs to me that our survival may depend upon our talking to one another._

For a moment, her valor nearly failed her, but if she didn't unleash this unfamiliar, _burning_ _intensity_ inside her someway, she feared that, _scientifically speaking_ , she'd _spontaneously combust_!

"Why do you think there's an underlying tension between us now that wasn't there before – which can only be described as the _sexual_ variety?" She blurted out, feeling her cheeks warming. "Or was it there _all_ _along_ , but I was too much of a jejune greenhorn to grasp _that's_ what it's actually been – but didn't acquire this moment of clarity, up until you went and stuck your tongue in my mouth?"

He jolted slightly, glanced at her quickly, then back to the road. "Just put that right out there why don't you?"

Long ago, Ema had learned that to be vague got vague results. She'd gotten used to being forthright growing up. Being a female in the male-dominated science field, she'd needed to be direct and specific about what she was thinking, wanted and needed as necessary requirements in order to be heard.

Bold and fearless. That's what got ahead in the world. At least, in the _science_ world. After all, would _Madam Curie_ have discovered the elements polonium and radium, thence been the first person in history to have won _two_ Nobel Prizes?

Accordingly, being bold didn't really harm anyone. The fact that the famed pioneering physicist had died from radiation poisoning – the very thing she'd _boldly_ discovered – was beside the point!

Anyway, Klavier wasn't denying the mutual tension.

"Is there a reason we shouldn't talk about it?"

"It's awkward, don't you think?" He persisted in staring resolutely at the road ahead.

"It's awkward whether we talk about it or not."

"It's easier to ignore when we don't talk about it."

He had a point. On the other hand, ignoring things rarely made them better – plus, she'd never been the thewless sort.

"Why ignore it?"

"How many reasons do you want?"

"Four."

"One, I haven't heard a _peep_ from you in months, even after I wore my heart on my sleeve for you when we were together last. Thus, I don't feel like having you toss it into a blender and hitting the purée button – yet _again_!"

Ema cringed.

"Two, according to _you_ , we don't like each other."

 _Yikes! He is not going to make this easy for me whatsoever!_ She closed her eyes. _Not that I blame him. I've been such an idiot – and I can't even blame my stupidity on the ill-effects of exposure to dangerous chemical elements!_

"Three, I don't know how long you're back in town for, or if you're once again leaving in the morning for Asia to work alongside your precious Prosecutor Men Elsa – hereby dubbed _Melsa_! –and _Gott_ only knows when you'd return again."

 _OK, I suppose I deserved that._

"Four, you were ready to leave the country last time with _zero_ intention of letting me know. I had to _hear it through the grapevine_ – much like I was forced to do _again_ to discover you were back in town! Nonetheless, in a moment of sheer madness, I still jumped through hoops to place myself within your juxtaposition tonight, so you couldn't squirm past me this time around. My reward? Watching you attempt to ignore my presence the whole evening, until I gave you _no choice_ but to acknowledge my existence by _dragging you up on stage_!"

Klavier shot her a disgusted look.

"Hence, as far as I'm concerned, I have _nothing_ more to say because I've given you _way_ more, frankly, than I think you probably deserve."

 _Yeesh! Good thing I only asked for four!_ Ema frowned. _That was_ _ **way**_ _too easy for him!_

"One – via your _own_ admission and not _me_ throwing your past Don Juan ways in your face, you acknowledged you're a worldly and sophisticated man whose experienced _all_ aspects of life, including, presumably… _relations_."

Then, squirming a tad, she spat out the rest, embarrassing though it may have been.

"Ahem, whereas _I_ , in contrast, despite being a year your senior, haven't had _any_ … _male_ _familiarity_! Thus, how could I have known where we stood when I last left? I didn't want to be some naïve schoolgirl sort who thought a kiss was a promise of forever! Plus, since I didn't know how long I'd be gone, I didn't want to make you wait in vain for a woman with a dubious return date – especially when _you_ benignly gave _your blessings_ to expand her horizons!"

Klavier clenched his jaw but remained silent.

"Two, as you said earlier, you don't have to like me to want to see me naked. Three is negotiable…."

"Are we referring to the duration of your time here or the now dubious sexuality of the _allegedly_ gay Prosecutor Sad Monk?"

"The _former_ , you egregiously _daft fop!"_ She snapped peevishly, frustrated with his deliberate obtuseness. " _Prosecutor Flutter_ , as you previously called him, definitely isn't interested in _nesting_ with me! Didn't you see Prosecutor Blackquill's new joint Twitter account _, Fluttering Panda_ , where they just announced their engagement?"

"I must have missed the memo," he muttered darkly. "Yet _another_ life change of one of my colleagues that I need to hear via the rumor mill!"

Ema chose to ignore this.

"Four, I honestly didn't think you'd care much if I left, and was truly blown away when you told me otherwise! Perhaps I'm a persistent cynic, harboring minor self-esteem issues, but I found it even _harder_ to fathom that a man like you would willingly endure indefinite _celibate_ nights and forsake all others, for _my_ sake! Not when you could easily have any willing, _local_ woman you desire to come warm your bed at the mere snap of your fingers!"

He grimaced at her vulgarity.

"One, being a man of the world, I also told you I _knew_ who was worth waiting for, even if _you_ didn't have the proficiency to know likewise. I took a huge risk by putting my emotions out there when I said I'd wait for you! Short of a marriage proposal and/or ring, I have no idea what _else_ I could have done to convince you I'd be true to my word. Evidently, since you chose not to trust me _or_ my word, your cynicism and doubt trumped all in the end. Feel free to pat yourself on the back for sticking to your guns."

Ema's eyes began to sting at this rancor.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I _wanted_ to believe you, Klavier. You have no idea …"

"Two," he interrupted curtly. "Wanting to see you naked and seeing you naked are different things. Three, color me skeptical about how _negotiable_ the length of your stay here will be! Four… what with _you_ refer to as being cynical and lacking experience, _I_ call simple _cowardice_. Fear is the cheapest room in the house, Detective Skye. I would have liked to see you living in better conditions."

The prickling sensation behind her lashes intensified.

"Five…what's the point of admitting you're attracted to me _now_ , when you've relocated to another country? Why _me_ , the silver-tongued, _bling-loving, glimmerous fop_? Why don't you focus your newfound, lusty urges on some lucky _arsch_ over there in Asia?"

Ema spouted out a response before her fearlessness failed her, trying to match his flippancy with her own.

"Maybe I like sexy European accents instead of Khurainese ones."

"Then why you can't you set sights on a Scottish Highlander? Maybe in Edinburgh?"

" _Edinburgh_?" She cracked up – she couldn't help it. " _Scotland_? Why there?"

"It's far away. Plus the men wear kilts, often with _nichts_ underneath, so easier access for these _primal urges_ you're finally admitting to having."

"Maybe I want more of a _challenge_ when veering south of the border?" She taunted, knowing she was skating on thin ice but not knowing how else to react. "As for why _you_? Hell if I know! I never expected blond, man-pretty Germans to be my thing. _I'm_ just as surprised as _you_ are!"

Klavier pulled into the Vitamin Square parking lot, located across the road from her building, without uttering another word. Throwing open the car door, he stepped out, took a deep breath of night air, then stalked over to a nearby bench and flopped down on it.

By the time Ema had exited the vehicle and taken a seat beside him, he was staring broodingly at the playground, which consisted of a slide, sandpit, climbing frames, and see-saw, all in the shape of various pieces of fruit, whilst steadily ignoring her presence.

She glimpsed at him hesitantly, hoping they'd continue the conversation where they'd left off, but he was steadily evading her gaze, obviously no longer in the mood to talk.

"Do you _really_ want me to move on?" The forensic investigator probed helplessly, when it appeared he was content to continue the silent treatment. "Because if you _do_ , can you really blame me for not knowing _what_ to think anymore? Considering _you're_ acting like the one full of doubts now – and _after_ you sang _my sister's wedding_ song with me tonight!"

"What about it?" He asked hollowly, vision still focused on the empty recreational area. "Did you dare believe it may have _meant_ something? That it _may_ have been me wearing my heart on my sleeve _yet again_? Or did your mistrusting misanthrope supersede, so you chalked it up to simply being a stellar performance?"

"I don't know _what_ to think anymore!" She cried in exasperation. "Whatever _did_ you intend to do when you had me hauled up on stage like that, if not to embarrass the living hell out of me?"

"So _that's_ what you supposed my intentions were, _ja_?" He asked acrimoniously. "I see your unwavering contempt remains, along with the being content to always assume the worst! It shows what you _really_ think of me – and how you genuinely feel about me, regardless of what I may, or may not feel for you. Therefore, what does it matter anymore _why_ I did what I did?"

Ema's jaw dropped. This was _Klavier Gavin_. After all the times she'd held the man in lofty reproach for everything, from his personality to his professional _and_ personal affairs, somehow, the tables had turned – now _he_ thought _she_ was a total jerk! Moreover, she had no idea what to say to dissuade him.

The grim reality of the situation hit her like a sucker punch, and she had to swallow past a thickness in her throat.

"You're my boss. I have no idea _why_ you didn't have me written up, maybe even fired, for the contempt and disdain I've shown you for so long," she said quietly. "Yet you didn't. Even though I was this miserable, grumpy Detective, determined to hate you because I blamed you for getting my friend disbarred, you never stopped trying to be nice to me. Heck, _you're_ the one who pushed me to get back on that horse and try for the forensic exam again, no matter how many times I'd failed in the past!"

Klavier turned his head to regard her, yet still didn't speak.

"I should have shown more gratitude for what you did for me, picking me up when there was no one else. I should have thawed out towards you after Mr. Wright got his badge back, and discovered you were as much a pawn of Kristoph's as _he'd_ been. Instead, I just kept finding more and more reasons to be a jerk towards you, because it was easier than admitting…" She faltered now, unsure of how to go on.

" _Admitting_?" He prodded, raising an eyebrow.

"Um, admitting that you're not such a bad person." She opted for the safe confession – after all, it was _still_ the truth! "In fact, you're a terrific person. I should be thanking you for all you've done for me and for being so kind to me. In all actuality, you're my favorite person at the office! It's just that sometimes, every once in a while, you can be a real pain."

Obviously, her acquiescence surprised him, but if she'd hoped to win him over with the attempted placating, she was in for a rather rude awakening.

"I wasn't expecting this humble pie. But I accept it." He smiled tightly. "You're welcome. Now then, it's getting late. If memory serves me correctly from when I dropped you off after last year's office Christmas party, your flat is just across the road. Ergo, this is where I'll leave you for the night before I head on home. Good night…Detective Skye."

He started to slide off the bench, but she hastily placed a halting her hand on his forearm. He froze at her touch.

"No! Don't go!"

"Why do you detain me?" Klavier was pure glibness personified. "Did you have some more praise to warm my insides about how you've _finally_ deemed I'm not such a bad guy after all? That you can now _tolerate_ my presence at work, even though I'm not a pious monk? And in spite of being more _glimmerous_ than _simmerous_ , like your debonair idol, _Herr_ Edgeworth?"

Her jaw dropped open. Until that moment, Ema hadn't ever realized just how much she'd hurt him with her disparaging, her doubt, and her constant unfavorable comparisons of him to Miles Edgeworth. She had quite a bit of atoning to do.

Also, his uncharacteristic defensiveness made it abundantly clear he was done making effort. He'd even taken the gamble of what she belated apprehended _had_ been a lyrical declaration for her, before hundreds of witnesses tonight – and without having gotten _any_ sort of ante from her whatsoever.

He'd done _his_ part. Therefore, the ball was all in Ema's court.

The onus was solely on her, even though it meant casting her pride, armor and all rationale aside, which was making her quivering internally. Which was fine. Because with some surprise, she realized that she was ready to do what she had to do. In fact, whether it was the result of the late hour, his own attractiveness, or simple deprivation of being apart from the object of her affection for so long, she wanted him quite badly.

 _Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation._

Klavier was watching her closely, waiting to hear her reply to his jibe.

"I've traveled a bit now, and I realized I'm awfully sentimental. Of books, belongings, people, places. It matters very little how positive or negative the experience was. If it shared some meaningful time in my life, I'll have trouble letting go. That's why I couldn't let go of my ridiculous teenage dreams about Mr. Edgeworth for _ages_! But that crush was a long time ago. Part of my travels was for personal growth, and seeing where my preferences lay _now_ , as a grown woman."

She kept a firm grip on his arm, fearful he'd try to leave if she didn't hold onto him.

"It was while I was away that I continuously noticed how everything and everybody I came across ended up being compared not to Mr. Edgeworth – but to _you_. And that was when I realized – everyone else isn't _you_. It turns out that's a huge problem for me."

The muscles in his arm under her steadfast hand bunched.

"I asked you not to go just yet – because I wanted you to hear about the changes that have transpired within me from the last time we parted. Since you stepped back and told me you'd wait for me to change, expand and grow as I saw fit, even though it meant flying halfway across the world to do so. While abroad, I learned that growth is painful. Change is painful. But _nothing_ is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don't belong. Khura'in isn't my home."

He didn't say anything for a long moment. He seemed to be surveying her for something.

"Home is where somebody notices when you are no longer there." She desperately wished she could munch a Snackoo bag or three for courage right about now. "My home is here in LA…or wherever _you_ are, Klavier."

Looking up into his eyes, which were wide with amazement at her candor, she knew it was time to confess something to him.

"I didn't want to make a silent exit because I thought you didn't care. That was a big part of it, but I was also trying to save _myself_ the pain of bidding you adieu. Scared of trusting. Scared of falling. So hugely scared I'd be hurt. Only this time I knew it would be so much worse, because I'm not used experiencing any kind of chemistry or explosive reactions outside of a laboratory! That's the _real_ reason I wanted to leave without saying goodbye – because I thought it would hurt less for _me_ that way. I was a shameful coward, and I'm truly sorry."

His forearm hadn't moved away from her palm, so she slid it downward, her hand now covering his. When it didn't tense up under hers, Ema knew it was safe to continue.

"Letting your walls down is like learning to swim for the first time. You dip your feet in, but you're too hesitant to get in because you're terrified of drowning."

"I could've held you tighter, but I was sinking as well, _Fräulein_ Detective." His voice was hoarse. "And you barely knew how to swim."

It was strange. He'd now reverted back to his routine of calling her _Fräulein_ Detective. Once it'd infuriated her, but now she _liked_ it. Not because she liked the sexist classification. But because it felt—intimate. Nobody else called her that.

Being intimate with Klavier Gavin suddenly seemed like the most logical thing in the world.

Except she didn't want him for his body. And she didn't want him just for one night. She wanted _him_ – _all_ of him.

 _I want you to undress me to the sound of all my defenses collapsing._

For now. For keeps. For forever.

 _I wish I was more worldly and sophisticated. If I were, I'd tell him: I want to be the last person who ever kisses you. That sounds bad like a death threat or something. What I'm trying to say is you're_ _ **it**_ _._

As if realizing suddenly he'd gone against his own inner treaty to not divulge any more of his heart until _she_ had, Klavier cleared his throat and switched back to familiar Casanova flirtatious mode.

" _Herr_ Edgeworth was your _teenage dream_ , you say?" He drawled indolently. "That makes me wish I'd known you as an adolescent. I would have tried every trick in the book to turn your head away from the urbane prosecutor and towards _me_ , for I'd have loved the challenge."

She leaned in and narrowed her eyes, in spite of the fact that her belly had flip-flopped simply in response to his husky voice. The sizzling chemistry between them was _not_ one-sided and she sure as _hell_ wasn't going to allow him to be quite so facetious by bringing up her long-ago, childish preferences in men.

" _Really_? You would have set your sights on a dorky science girl who wasn't remotely your type, just so you could win her affections away from a dashing older man?"

Klavier's gaze languidly flickered to her mouth, then slid lower, over her body, then back up.

"As a dumb, horny teenage boy who was eager to prove his virility? Very likely."

"And at the present?"

"At this point in time, I'm presently more discerning with the ladies I keep company with. Possibly because I'm not a teenager anymore."

"What about the dumb and horny part?"

"Sometimes more than others."

This turn in conversation was kind of funny. Ema held her breath.

"How about _now_?"

"Feeling dumber by the second."

That definitely caused her stomach to flip again.

"Funny, I'm feeling _one_ of those things too."

"Well in both cases, this is quite the turnabout, _mein lieber Wissenschaftler._ " His lips twitched in amusement. "Aren't _you_ the one who always errs on the side of caution?"

 _Check, and mate._

"There will be a few times in your life when all your instincts will tell you to do something, something that defies logic, upsets your plans, and may seem crazy to others," she decreed, slowly standing up, then turning to face his seated form. "When that happens, you do it. Listen to your instincts and ignore everything else. Ignore logic, ignore the odds, ignore the complications, and just go for it."

"Is that so?" He treated her to a wolfish grin, although making no move from his seated position. "I may or may not have objections to this newfound recklessness of yours, _mein Feuerwerkskörper."_

It felt like the temperature in the air went up a few degrees. She could hardly breathe, his gaze was so intense.

It was time to throw caution to the wind.

Slanting forward, she placed a palm down on either side of him, so he was caged between her arms on the backrest, then pressed herself forward so that her chest was brushing his. She could feel his warm breath on her throat as she brought herself closer to the side of his head, so her lips were tickling his hoop earring.

The sudden flare of heat in his gaze let her know he was open to anything she had in mind – but whatever it was, _he_ would no longer be laying himself out on the line.

This time _she'd_ have to be the one to be in driver's seat.

 _Fine by me._

"Admit it," she purred into his ear, grinning widely. "I may have been a coward and a jerk … but you _still_ like me."

He laughed softly. "I'm not admitting anything, _Fräulein_ Detective."

With a naughty gleam in her eye, she brushed her lips against his earlobe as she spoke again, smiling as she felt him shiver from the sensation on his sensitive flesh.

"Have we switched places – and it's _you_ trying to resist _me_ now?"

"Maybe a _little_ ," he grinned impishly, snapping his fingers. "Or perhaps I don't want to make things _too_ easy for you, _Miss I-Want-A-Challenge_! It'd serve you right, since _you_ fought against _my_ charms for years!"

"I did _not_!" She protested hotly. "At least … not for _years_! There was a point I really _did_ hate you!"

"No you didn't. You just _thought_ you did." He smiled smugly.

"You're giving me a _really_ good reminder as to why I did, Gavin!"

" _Achtung_ , baby!"

Out of nowhere, he grabbed her by the waist, propelled her down on the bench, and then leaned over her pinned body with a roguish grin.

"Admit it … _Ema_. You wanted so badly to hate my guts, yet you couldn't do it. I think it's awesome."

" _Ngh_!" Her eyes narrowed as she looked up at him. " _There's_ the pompous, smarmy, vainglorious act that made me hate you all on its own volition – regardless of what happened with Mr. Wright!"

"Are you going to deny missing me whilst you were gone?" He contested with a knowing smirk.

" _Miss_ you?" She repeated incredulously. "As if those few stolen moments on my last night here could erase all the times I could've cheerfully _murdered_ you!"

"I'd have come back to haunt you," he threatened with a crooked smile.

"And _that_ ," she said, shaking her head, "was the _sole_ reason why I hadn't tried."

He let out a rich chuckle then, and it was a sound Ema knew she'd never tire of hearing.

"I will _not_ let you rewrite or overly romanticize our turbulent past, buster! Upon deeper reflection, while I was gone…I realized that yes, _sometimes_ I'd hated you! Sometimes, I hated _myself_ , yet _always_ … yes, I missed you."

"I missed you just as much." He told her sincerely. "Although, I can't help thinking that if you hadn't run, I wouldn't have gotten the chance to chase after you like I did tonight."

Just that quickly—as he made her burn up at the wicked thought of being chased in a different kind of private setting – then caught in the most delicious way – Klavier erased any chance of recriminations, of making her feel guilty or selfish for what she'd done.

" _Fine_!" She gave a feigned sigh of defeat. "Speaking of which – don't think for a _second_ I've completely forgiven you for making me sing tonight, when I just as easily have ended up getting us booed off the stage!"

"You are the embodiment of the term _'love is a battlefield'_ aren't you, _mein Feuerwerkskörper_?"

He focused his gaze on her parted lips, then studied her quietly, the flames in his expressive blue making her tremble slightly.

 _His eyes, they're full of something. Something I haven't seen before. A wanting. A longing. A craving. And he's right there, almost on top of me now. So close I can feel the heat of his body._

Her stomach tumbled to her knees, heart fluttering. It was finally happening. That moment. That pull between them, drawing her in. Only this time she couldn't find anything to hold her back; there was nothing stopping her. Stopping _them_.

"F –fine." Her breath seemed to be stuck in her throat. "For all intents and purposes, I –I didn't want to _hate_ you. I just didn't want to _like_ you!"

"Is that so… _Ema_?" His lips were only an inch over hers as he hovered over her, his silver _G_ pendant now resting atop the valley of her breasts, his warm breath caressing her lips. "There's a difference?"

"Like you wouldn't believe." Her voice was a shaky whisper now.

Then, with a renewed boldness, she grabbed his chain and pulled him down to her, closing the space between them, touching his skin, kissing him softly on the cheek, just to the corner of his mouth. He slid his fingers through her hair, and their lips connected, sending jolts of electricity coursing through her veins. She let out a quick gasp of air, knowing they'd crossed that invisible line and jumped off a cliff they could never re-climb.

That moment changed everything.

And now Ema wasn't sure she was ready for such unequivocal submission.

Klavier deepened the kiss, claiming in a manner that was both rough and tender, his arms drawing her tightly against him. Then, as though sensing her trepidation, he gentled the kiss, brushing his parted lips on hers in a light, exquisite touch that was even harder to resist than the other one.

He trailed his lips to her ear and nipped the lobe, his murmurs sending shivers down her spine.

"I'll lay down my armor and my defenses if _you_ will, _mein lieber Wissenschaftler_. I _know_ you want to fully surrender to me. I can _feel_ it. Why not indulge the impulse," he invited her huskily. "I'm more than willing to make _love_ not _war_ anymore..."

To her horror, his teasing statements doused her brief flare-up and gave her simultaneous impulses to giggle and to do exactly what he suggested.

"If I die in an accident on the way home tonight," he cajoled softly, his mouth sliding over her cheek toward her lips again, "think how guilty you'll feel for not _completely_ calling a cease-fire."

Pushed another step toward laughter, she opened her mouth to say something duly flippant or, better yet, sarcastic, and the instant she did, his mouth captured hers. His hand clamped the back of her head, holding her mouth to his while his other arm angled down across her back, holding her hips tightly to his. And Ema was lost. Locked to him from toe to head, possessed by his hands and mouth and tongue, she went down to ignominious defeat.

Against his chest, her fists flattened, her hands sliding up his shirt inside his jacket, her fingers splaying wide of their own accord, spreading against the muscled warmth of his chest. His tongue stroked intimately against hers, his mouth inexorably forcing hers to open wider, and Ema was welcoming the invasion of his tongue, helplessly kissing him back with all the desperation and confusion rioting inside her. As soon as she did, his arm tightened, his mouth starting to move with fierce, devouring hunger over hers, and she felt his own desire beginning to pour through her veins.

 _I'd never kissed anyone I'd ever despised before. Sheer madness. Nothing else can describe it. The last time he kissed me, I hated him for making me want to kiss him. It wasn't pretty. If we had been any two other people, the kissing might have put a cease-fire on the war. Instead, our last lip lock incensed us further. Four months of hurt feelings and bruised egos now met with a longing we'd both done our best to deny for years. The reality is more intense than anything I've ever seen on the silver screen. Movie kisses never looked like this felt. I don't think any amount of force on earth could ever pull me away from him again._

When he finally pulled his mouth from hers an eternity later, their breaths were coming in mingled gasps. Feeling almost bereft, Ema surfaced slightly from the sensual Eden where he'd sent her, and forced her heavy eyelids to open so that she could stare up at him. Stretched out beside her on the bench, he was now leaning over her, his tanned face hard and dark with passion.

"Why is it when _you_ yield," Klavier whispered, gazing into her intoxicating eyes, " _I_ feel like the one who has been conquered?"

Before Ema could recover from that staggering admission, he let out a laughing groan of defeat and buried his face in her fragrant hair for a moment before making his next confession.

"Did you ever know, _mein lieber Wissenschaftler_ , how much you took away with you when you left? You were an incomplete human, yet a complete catastrophe, one that I cursed and yet craved. I never looked at you and saw merely a pretty face. Oh, I don't mean you're not pleasing to the eye, in the traditional sense. Your face is exquisite. But your eyes – those flashing emerald eyes. They have so much wildness and chaos, like some sort of untamed animal peering out of a forest fire. Those eyes captivated me and then proceeded to interfere with the pathways to my brain, and then my heart."

At a loss for words, she gently stroked his cheek, making his breath come out in a tremulous rasp. His reaction to such an innocent touch made her own skin tingle, sending warm shivers through the length of her body as he continued enchanting her with his words.

"I won't deny my ardor for you began because I felt a primal level of attraction for you. You weren't wrong when you accused me of wanting to sleep with you – any more than you can condemn me for wanting you, unless you condemn every other man who has. But then I got greedy. I didn't want just your body, I wanted _all_ of you. Mind, heart, body and soul."

He rubbed his jaw against her temple.

"I just wanted you in my _life_. I wanted you to love me, even if though you were still finding your way. Because I had fallen hopelessly in love with you. You know that, don't you?"

The declaration was unanticipated but not unwelcome. She didn't know how to respond. Wasn't sure if she was ready to give him the response he needed – that he _deserved_ to hear. Ema's entire body started to tremble as his lips began descending to hers, and she sought to forestall what her heart knew was inevitable by reasoning with him.

"Scientifically speaking, I know love is nothing more than a chemical reaction in the brain and a jumbled mess of hormonal reactors. As a result, it makes no sense not to be led by my _head_ rather than my _heart_ ," she nervously uttered. "A true scientist understands these underlying factors and triggers and doesn't allow herself to feel anything stronger than affection. We do not fall in love."

"Well, I'm European _and_ an angsty artist," he replied gruffly, not at all contrite. "And _we_ do."

She stiffened slightly and drew a shuddering breath.

"Love can't be forced into existence." The last remaining shard of logic left within her body compelled her to reply. "It won't come simply because you will it to happen…"

"This is undeniably true," Klavier conceded. "The moment you let somebody into your heart, you're taking a risk. Not everybody's going to hurt you, of course, but from the moment you begin to care for someone, you're giving them that power, and whether or not they use it is completely beyond your control. I knew all of this, and regardless, I let myself fall in love with you."

Her eyes widened in surprise and then, deep pleasure. She didn't say anything, but he didn't expect her to. Not when he saw the truth of her feelings reflected back to him, not just in her eyes, but the lines of her beautiful face, in the trust she'd placed in him, from taking the risk of humiliation alongside him on that stage, to with her body every single moment of the night.

Klavier continued his loving words, his hand roving over her sides and back.

"But I already _know_ you love me. I can feel it when you're in my arms." He tipped her chin up, glorying in the gentle passion in those orbs, overlooking the hesitation in their jade depths. "I can feel it, Ema, but if you don't admit it pretty soon, you're going to drive me out of my mind. I can't work. I can't think. I make decisions and then I change my mind whenever I'm under this sort of violent stress. I may have an identity crisis; chop off my hair into a Mohawk, die it black, and start singing death metal… ..."

Instead of an answer, she tightened her hand at his nape and at the same time turned into his arms. His mouth came down hard on hers, but instead of struggling, her body arched against him and she drew his tongue into her mouth. Against her breasts, she felt his heart slam into his ribs, and he began kissing her with unleashed passion, his tongue tangling with hers, then plunging and slowly retreating in some wildly exciting, forbidden rhythm that made the blood roar in Ema's ears.

Lifting his head at last, he reached down and tenderly brushed a chestnut lock of hair off her cheek while trying to smile, but his breathing was as unsteady as hers.

"Yours is the kind of kiss I've been wanting my whole life. I've always yearned for the kind of kiss that takes my breath away, makes my skin tingle with electricity, and leaves me feeling dizzy and drunk. Yours are the lips I have ached and yearned for all these years, and now that I've had them, I know they're the only ones I'll ever crave for the rest of my days. You intoxicated me. It was just as though you were making me love you by some invisible force." His gaze held hers, and his voice was tender and rough. "Love me, Ema Skye."

"I _do_." Ema felt a tremor run through her entire body, but she gazed at him without flinching, even though her voice was barely above a whisper. "I don't know much. But I know I love you."

Klavier closed his eyes. It seemed like the right thing to do, no matter what happened next. He closed his eyes and felt her fingertips touching his cheek, then his forehead, then his eyelids. He drew in a deep breath as he tried to regain his bearings.

"You know, _mein Feuerwerkskörper,_ if this were a movie, I'd be ending all these ardor avowals with a tangible promise of my eternal love," he teased, tapping her on the nose. "Or, if we really were a couple of dumb, horny high school teenagers, I'd at _least_ be offering you some sort of _promise ring_ and asking you to be my _steady_."

"Oh jeez, fop, just because you're pretty like a girl doesn't give you free pass to _be_ one!" Ema wrinkled her nose playfully. " _Must_ you ruin this moment with your schmaltzy _cheesiness_?"

"But of course! We can't _both_ us be the tsundere sort!" He snickered, not even remotely affronted. "Last time I let you know how I feel, I was empty handed, and it seemed some sort of concrete token of my affections would have helped quell those doubts of yours. However, since there's no jewelry on my person that'd be suitable for this occasion…"

He pulled his G-logo chain off his neck and dangled it above her forehead.

"Would _this_ suffice as a sufficient way for a man to make a pledge of his undying devotion, at least temporarily?"

" _Ack_!" Ema tittered, swatting away at the offending Gavinners pendant like a cat batting at a ball of yarn. "That overly blingy thing would best suffice as a _force multiplier_ in self-defense when arresting an armed assailant! I am positive that 'G' stands for _gaudy!_ "

" _My poor battered heart_!" He pretended to appear wounded but failed miserably as he let out a loud shout of laughter. "You _really_ know how to hurt a man, Ema! Don't you know it stands for _glimmerous_?"

" _Naturally_!" Her eyes were dancing with mirth now. "Allow me to take this time to thank you, _mein_ glimmerous fop, for never giving up on me, no matter how much I futilely tried to rebuke your persistent charms. But mostly, thank you for losing me all those months ago … because my life wouldn't be the same if I hadn't taken the chance to spread my wings and fly – to come into my own and grow as a person."

Her body rose and fell against his huge intake of breath. Suddenly turning serious, he cradled her face in his hands and gave a puzzled smile.

"Out of all the times I imagined what it would be like if I ever saw you again you … I never dreamed it would end with you _thanking_ me for losing you."

 _"End?"_ Ema demanded, disliking the chosen term. She pulled herself up into a semi-seated position and kissed him briefly on the lips before pulling back. "Don't make me beat you over the head with your own chain, Gavin! The newly awakened optimist in me which you've helped awaken was sincerely hoping this isn't our _end_ – but our _beginning_!"

" _Keine Chance_! This isn't our end at all!" He tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and kept his hand there. "I _wish_ I could say we were about to live happily ever after like this was some sort of fairytale – but I can't. We both still have so much to work through – starting with the fact that I'm not sure if you can continue working as my subordinate, now that we're romantically involved. _Herr_ Edgeworth _may_ allow it, but he may not. And then there's the fact that everyone already seemed to have had their suspicions about the two of us all along, meaning there will be the gossip mill at work to face as soon as we come clean about being together …"

"You worry way too much, fop!" She scoffed, tapping him pointedly on his forehead in lieu of a Snackoo. "If Mr. Edgeworth tells me I can no longer work with you as my boss, then I _guess_ …"

Her voice trailed off suggestively as she flashed a coy smile.

"…I'll just have to make do with working _under you_ in _other_ ways … after hours!"

" _Achtung_ , baby!" Klavier waggled his eyebrows suggestively. _"Mein Gott_ , what kind of vivacious vixen have I unleashed and why am I looking forward to being bitten by her?"

He let out a contented sigh as Ema kissed his cheek, then willingly turned his face so she could kiss his other cheek. And his chin. The groove below his bottom lip. Then he let his head tip forward into her hands and flashed an endearing smile.

"I literally put my head – and my _heart_ – in your hands, Ema Skye. I know our being together may cause quite a stir. I also know our joint endeavors for justice will result in some days where we don't know how to survive – yet we _will_. We will, because we have each other. But as for _us_ , I'm not worried about us, _mein lieber Wissenschaftler_. I'm not worried about us at all."

Ema kissed him on his dimple and smirked knowingly, even though her eyes were shining with untamed joy and promise.

"I'm not worried about us either. And for the record, I'm still a _woman_ of logic and science – not some starry-eyed, idealistic _teenager_! Although even then, I was _never_ a believer in clichéd Hollywood fairytales or in _happily ever afters_!"

"Good, because you're not really getting one!" He let out a hearty laugh, even though the ardency in his voice unmistakable. "I'm afraid all you're getting is _me_!"

"That's all I need." Ema leaned forward and smilingly touched her forehead against his. "Well … I need my fingerprint kit. _And_ my luminol. _And_ my entire forensic lab of gadgets. _And_ my Snackoos. But most of all, _you_ , Klavier Gavin. That's all I'll _ever_ need."

 **End**

 ** _Mein Feuerwerkskörper – My firecracker_**

 ** _Mein lieber Wissenschaftler – My dear scientist_**


	9. Phoenix's Worst Nightmare

_Mr. Coffee: And here's a story that I only describe as being so wrong…but so Wright at the same time…_

* * *

 **Phoenix's Worst Nightmare**

"Trucy, your dad will be furious with us if he ever finds out."

"Tee Hee… I don't plan on telling Daddy about this, Polly. It'll be our little secret."

That was the last thing Phoenix Wright wanted to hear from the security app on his phone, connected to a microphone planted in his office. The sensors had sent him a notification that Apollo and Trucy had returned from their trial to the Wright Anything Agency while he was out walking, and so he decided to listen in to see how it had gone. But he hadn't expected this.

Not _this_!

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

"I'm 15, Polly. I'm old enough to know what I want."

 _Um, excuse me?_ Phoenix worried. _Of course she's not old enough! Whatever they're about to do, it better not be…_

Trucy continued. "I-I've never done it before. I was thinking… Maybe, I'd like it to be with you, my first time?"

 _Dammit, where did this come from? They're siblings! And she's **15**! This is so wrong on so many levels…_

Apollo's voice quivered. "No strings attached? I'm not gonna promise to do this with you more than once. Mr. Wright is my boss, and if he finds out-"

"He _won't_ find out!" she insisted.

The former defense attorney folded his hands, sending up a silent prayer.

 _Please, Apollo. You're a good kid. I know it. Do the right thing here!_

"A-a-alright. Just this once, Truce."

 _NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!_

"Yay! You're the best, Polly! I love you!"

"Is the couch okay?"

"Well, I wasn't thinking Daddy's bed!"

Turning sharply on his heel, Phoenix sprinted back in the direction of his office at top speed.

 _I have to stop this, fast!_

There was a moment of silence in the office, other than a few sounds of ruffling that Phoenix chose to ignore. Suddenly, Trucy stuttered in amazement, "It's so hard."

 _GAH!_

A nervous Apollo started. "Maybe you should- AAH! Tr-trucy, don't grab it like that without any warning!"

Phoenix was really tempted to stop listening, but simultaneously didn't want to give the two the privacy they clearly thought they had. He just tried his very best not to picture what was going on.

"Does that feel…good?"

"Yeah, Trucy, that's good…rub it like that…"

 _Hell. No. Make it stop!_

"Ugh, Trucy…this is so wrong, but feels so right…"

"Mmmmm… Polly!"

"Mmmaaaa, Trucy, this is…"

"Polly, are you gonna put it in me now?"

"O-okay! Just, give me a minute…"

 _We have clients sit on that couch, guys! Wait that should be the last of my worries! GYAH, I need to…_

That was when Phoenix reached the Wright Anything Agency. Without a second thought, he threw open the door, shouting in full-on objection voice.

"STOP! DON'T DO THIS, YOU'RE SIBLINGS!"

"D-Daddy!" exclaimed a fully-clothed Trucy, seated on the couch a few feet away from Apollo.

"AAH!" Apollo screamed, Chords of Steel activated, nearly dropping the spoonful of chocolate ice cream he was about to put in his half-sister's mouth. The child magician took the opportunity to snatch the spoon, shoving it into her mouth with a satisfied " _Mmmm_!"

Polly fell to the floor in an apologetic bow. "Mr. Wright, I'm so, SO sorry that we're eating the last of your chocolate ice cream! Um, we won the case, but I'm too broke to celebrate, and Trucy said we should take it…"

"Only because it's been in the freezer _forever_!" The girl chimed in, taking another bite of the creamy dessert. "I mean, that thing was so hard when we took it out, I had to warm it up before we could eat it!"

Phoenix groaned with a face palm. Of _course_ his teenage daughter had been rigorously rubbing the ice cream container in attempt to melt it, not rubbing _other things_!

Trucy rose, offering an apologetic smile. "I've never stolen your sweets before, Daddy, even though it's really tempting. I thought Polly deserved it, though! He really did do great in court!"

Upon seeing her father's frustrated expression, she gasped, "Daddy, you're not actually mad about this, right? I'm so sorry! It was all _my_ idea, I swear!"

Phoenix shook his head. "It's fine, Truce. I'm not mad at all, just… don't worry about it."

"Wait," Apollo looked up, "Did you just say we're _siblings_!?"

"…Oops."


	10. Justice Isn't Blind

_Mr. Coffee: Polly **can** see quite well, but he's going to want to gauge out his own eyes soon enough. Oh, what a tangled web we weave when we ignore our instincts to perceive... _

* * *

**Justice Isn't Blind**

Apollo finally raised his head to take a breath from the world's longest reunion lip lock and crushed his girlfriend's petite form against his in one final bear hug before reluctantly releasing her at last.

"I've missed you so much, Tiger." The horn-haired lawyer smiled tenderly into the yellow attorney's beautiful blue eyes. "This visit is _way_ overdue!"

"I know, I've been losing my mind ever since you decided to ditch us all in favor of Western Asia, you big dork!" Athena's loving smile completely took the sting out of the words as she playfully stuck out her tongue. "I've probably been driving Simon crazy, moaning to him about how much I missed you. I guess I went overboard with my gushing about how excited I was to see you again for the first in _forever_ on the plane ride over here, because at one point he threatened to dice me like _sushi_ if I didn't quit yapping about you already!"

"At least the Twisted Samurai kept you company during that long flight. 12 hours was it?"

" _15!"_ The redhead corrected cheerfully. "It's all good though, you're totally worth it! He may be surly, but Simon really was great company, and he was great to pass time with. I got really lucky that he decided to coincide his vacation time with mine. He literally booked his plane ticket _the minute_ I told him I was coming to Khura'in!"

"Quite the coincidence," Apollo noted, tucking the manila folder in his hand, containing the relevant paperwork for his latest upcoming court case under his arm, then taking her hand. "It's kinda funny how Simon didn't even drop by to say hello to me once you guys landed – where the heck did he take off to?"

"No clue. But it's a small country, I'm sure he'll turn up eventually." Athena shrugged nonchalantly as the two headed out into the village. "Hey, maybe we should drop by Nahyuta's place so _I_ can at least say hello to your brother before we go for dinner. The prosecutor's office isn't very far from Justice Law Offices, right?"

"You read my mind." Apollo grinned. "I was _just_ about to drop off these legal files to him. But don't even _think_ about asking him to join us tonight, Miss Congeniality! I haven't seen you in half a year, and on your first night here, at the very least, I want you all to _myself_!"

"You have _all_ of me for the next _month_ ," she promised, pausing midstride as Apollo stopped at his foster sibling's workplace and knocked on the door, only to have no answer. "Hey, is Prosecutor Sad Monk gone for the evening?"

"No, he never leaves before 6:00. He must be in the back room. And by the way, I still can't believe Simon actually called him that!" The red attorney chortled as he turned the knob and found it unlocked. "I see it's rubbed off on _you_ too! Just don't say that to his face! After all, we've only just _recently_ restored peace to this great nation!"

"I would never steal the nickname Reverse Panda hath bequeathed him," Athena twittered. "Simon told me that they're still in touch and exchange no longer hostile, very friendly emails, in which Nahyuta _still_ occasionally calls him that – but don't even think _you_ can get away with calling my bestie this otherwise _objectionable_ nickname, Apollo! Not unless you want to taste to the end of the samurai's blade!"

"Perish the thought!" Apollo given a mock shudder as he ushered them towards the rooms in the back of Nahyuta's office, finding the door closed to one of them, even though muffled sounds could be heard from inside.

"That's it." The monk's calm voice could be heard saying in his typical pacifying manner. " _Draw_ those ribs in. Send energy out of the fingertips…"

"I haven't been in this position for a long time," a man's _very_ _familiar_ cadence rumbled in response. "I didn't think it would be this hard!"

"Let it go and move on, Simon," Nahyuta soothed. "Take deep breaths. Feel your body melting into the mat…"

"So _this_ is where Simon obviously disappeared to?" Apollo's initial surprise quickly turned into discomfiture as he hesitated outside the door. "Those two obviously got along better afterward than they did during the soba noodle court case, what with him presently visiting with my brother! I know interrupting would be rude, and would normally never _dream_ of it - if I didn't need to quickly go over this file with him…"

"Normally _I_ wouldn't mind waiting. However, the airplane food, as usual, was lacking in taste _and_ quantity, and it's been hours since I last ate. Therefore, I'm pretty hungry," Athena admitted sheepishly. "I wonder if it would be rude to disrupt their yoga session if it's only for a _minute_."

There was a raucous, guttural cry heard on the other side of the door just then, followed by a series of even louder groans.

"Pretty vigorous and intense here!" Simon gasped breathlessly. "Apologies if things are a little tighter back there than they should be…"

" _Arngh_!" The Red Pepper's eyes morphed into saucers, the folder under his arm falling to the floor.

"Open the heart, and crown down through the feet."

A scuffling sound, then there was the subsequent soothing of the Royal Regent, calmly urging the prosecutor to "relax and find _space_ in the body."

"Nnngrrrrk!" The Stink Bug reeled back and made a strangled noise, like a cat choking on a hairball, while Athena merely raised her eyebrows slightly in curiosity. "That's it! Forget the files, Tiger! We're _outta_ here!"

"Why?" She asked in surprise, appearing genuinely bewildered by her boyfriend's flustered disposition. "We just got here! Don't you at least give them a _minute_ to maybe finish up their yoga?"

"Are you serious?! Is _that_ what you think they're doing?!" He goggled her incredulously as he animatedly waved his hand at the door. "Either _I_ have a dirty mind, or you're _way_ too unassuming Athena! It sure doesn't sound like there's purely _ascetic, disciplined body posturing_ happening in there – unless you wanna count _Making The Beast With Two Backs_ a Bikram position!"

" _Dios Mio!_ Why must you insist on always jumping to such ridiculous conclusions?" Athena chastised her boyfriend. "You know what they say about _assume -_ it makes an _ass_ of U-M-E for a _reason_ , right?"

"B – but…" He frantically gestured towards the door, noting the nonstop grunts hadn't ceased coming from behind it.

"Relax, Apollo!" She admonished. "Didn't I tell you about the time Trucy and I wanted the earth to come up and swallow us whole, because we thought we'd walked in on the boss and his girlfriend at the office in a... _compromising position_..."

"You guys walked in on Mr. Wright and Miss Maya … having _relations_?" The already aghast Apollo's jaw dropped down to his chest. " _How_ did the two of you _not_ drop dead of mortification, right there and then? How is it _they_ didn't? I know that brazen spirit medium is unabashed, but surely the boss has to have _some_ shame – considering it was his own unsuspecting daughter who caught him in the act of _schtupping_!"

"There was no shame nor _schtupping_ involved – get your mind out of the gutter already! It turned out Maya was only trying to get Mr. Wright do some couples yoga to help with that stiff back of his!" Athena snickered at the memory. "Boy, I'm not sure if it was more embarrassment or relief on our parts to find out that they actually weren't _playing leapfrog_ – it just _looked_ like they were! They were actually in _Child's Pose on Child's Pose_ position!"

"Oh. I…see."

"There you go!" She smiled triumphantly at his taken aback expression. "It doesn't pay to jump to conclusions!"

"Well, that story notwithstanding, I'm still feel like I'm having déjà vu by proxy in your stead, Tiger!" Apollo's horns drooped. "It sounds like Simon and Nahyuta are having some _seriously aggressive handholding_ in there!"

"Very funny! Obviously they're too engrossed in what they're doing to have heard us knocking, or even have heard us prattling away about their suspected copulating right outside their door. Stop being so silly and just go in there to do whatever it is you need to do quickly so we can go eat! I'm _starved_!"

"You're probably right – I'm jumping the gun based on very circumstantial evidence aren't I?"

"Yes, you are! We are in _Asia_ , where yoga is the norm! It was during her training _here_ that Maya picked up on it, after all."

"Makes sense. Of course Nahyuta would practice it as well – it's probably part of his Zen training," Apollo theorized as he reached for the doorknob. "I'm sure Simon's back was feeling rather cramped from being stuck on an airplane for so long, and my hospitable sibling is simply trying to ease the tension…. _Uurrngh_!"

Having just poked his head into the doorway of the occupied area, the scarlet-faced young man abruptly yanked it shut just as quickly as he opened it and fell back heavily against the wall, eyes tightly squeezed shut as though trying to block out whatever he had just seen.

"Apollo, what is it?" Athena placed a concerned hand on his arm – her beau looked downright _queasy_! "Is everything alright? What happened?"

"I saw a _side_ of my brother that I _never wanted to see_ is what happened!" Apollo shouted as he swiftly spun on his heel, uncaring about the abandoned disarray of legal papers left in his wake, and desperately raced towards the entrance. "Remind me to stick to my much safer _assuming_ … and to _never_ to listen to you again – _ever_!"

"Wait – _what_?" The bewildered American girl called after his retreating back as she jogged after him – for a guy who she normally could outrun easily, Apollo had somehow developed an Olympic gold medalist's sprint! "What's going on? _What_ side?"

"His _backside_ , during their game of _Crouching Samurai, Horny Dragon!_ " The traumatized defense attorney shouted over his shoulder as he sprinted out the door, fervently trying to block out the harrowing images of the Downward Facing Dog position the naked as a the day he was born Simon had been in … whilst the _equally nude_ Nahyuta had been performing an _explicitly different_ means of ' _Letting It Go'_ behind him! "My name is Apollo Justice and I'm NOT FIIIIINNNEEEEEEE…."


End file.
